more weight than what is said by an Author without Merit and without a Name Hug. Law The Charge is the same though the Accusers are different By answering either we answer both Save that Dr. Arnaud aims farther than the Anonymus Church-man and lays his Accusation general against all the Reformed of Europe as if they had kindled a War and alter'd the Government where-ever the Reformation was introduc'd The generality of this Charge deserves a particular Consideration and if these Gentlemen please I will let them see how unjust it is Par. We shall gladly give you the hearing 'T is a thing we had to say to you in Justification of the Conduct of the Ministers against you and of the design the King hath to destroy you And I explain it thus You are naturally inclin'd to a Republican Government you hate Monarchy and your Sect hath not made appear that Spirit of Rebellion that animates it in France alone but in the Low-Countries in Germany in England And generally in all places where it is establish'd you have shaken off the Yoke of your Lawful Princes and setled your Religion by taking up Arms against your Soveraigns Hug. Law If a Gentleman so clear-sighted as you can charge us so unjustly what Equity can we expect from those ordinary understandings which are guided wholly by prejudice To hear you speak one would think we had in every place set up the Standard of Rebellion And that like Mahomet we had establish'd our Sect by force of Arms. The ground of all this is no other but that in the time of our Reformation the Low-Countries withdrew themselves from under the Dominion of Spain and the Protestants of Germany had some engagements with Charles the 5th To let you see the injustice of this Complaint I must intreat you to take a short view of the States where our Reformation is establish'd and you will see whether it hath entred every where by Arms and Rebellion As to England all the World knows the Reformation was introduc'd there by Authority of the Soveraign not by popular Sedition Henry the 8th shook off the Yoke of the Pope and enfranchis'd his Kingdom from the Tyranny of the Court of Rome Edward the 6th his Son and Successor finished what he began Mary the Daughter of Henry destroy'd all her Father and Brother had done and brought the Kingdom again under the Dominion of the Roman Church Elizabeth her Sister overthrew all Mary had done restablish'd the Reformation of the Protestants in all her Dominions and strengthned it by a Raign of above forty years Swede was reform'd under the Authority of Gustavus Erikson whom your most Catholick Writers cannot reproach with any thing but his banishing the Roman Religion out of his Countries He was descended of the Ancient Gothish Kings and Grandchild to Charles Chanut King of Swede He was chosen King of Swede by all the States of that Kingdom with universal joy and great acclamation as having merited that Honour by the great Service he had done his Countrey in delivering it from the tyranny of the Danes This then was no usurper but a Lawful King A Prince of so much goodness and wisdom as Swede ever had He Raign'd happily thirty seven years and in acknowledgment of his Merit the Swedes made their Crown hereditary in favour of his Children which had before been Elective This Prince reform'd Religion in his Countries without Violence without Threats but by fair and gentle Means without a Sword drawn or drop of Blood shed Denmark receiv'd the Reformation the same time under Frederick and Christiern the 3 d. his Son without Violence and only by the Authority of these two Princes The last Roman-Catholick King of Denmark was Christiern the 2 d. whom F. Maimburg in his History of Lutheranism describes as a Monster He assur'd himself the Conquest of Swede by the most inhumane and barbarous Action History ever mention'd That is by Massacring the Senate and all the flower of the Nobility of the Kingdom at a Feast he invited them to This Tyrant was driven out of Denmark by his Subjects there who call'd in Frederick Duke of Holstein and plac'd him on the Throne This Frederick was a Prince as eminent for wisdom and renowned for goodness as Christern the last who made profession there of the Roman-Catholick Religion was infamous for his Wickedness Treachery and Cruelty For proof of this truth I rely not on a Witness lyable to suspition but on Father Maimbourg in his first Book of the History of Lutheranism I have already made out a considerable number of the Reformed Countries where it appears the Reformation was not introduc'd by revolt of the Subject but establish'd by Authority of the Soveraign The Swisses were a free State before the Reformation and therefore at liberty to make choice of their Religion and may be added to the number of Countries reform'd without Rebellion Par. Let me advise you Sir to stop there For if you step but a little further you will come to Geneva your Metropolis and your Rome And I believe you will find it a hard task to justifie their manner of changing the Ancient Religion there They expell'd their Bishop depriv'd the Dukes of Savoy of the ancient Rights they had in the City erected themselves into a soveraign Republick against all sorts of Right Humane and Divine Hug. Law I think Gentlemen you have no cause to suspect the History of Geneva lately published by Monsieur Spon He affects a sincerity not very pleasing to the Protestants They of Geneva have judg'd it so little favourable to them they have prohibited the sale of the Book in their City And it has pleas'd the Enemies of the Protestants so well they have given it high Elogies and magnificent Approbations However I will rely on what that Author says If you read that History Sir you will find the Bishop of Geneva was not in any Age Soveraign of the City true it is he had some rights over the temporalties of it as some Bishops of France particularly those who are Dukes Earls and Peers of the Kingdom have over their Sees and Episcopal Cities as the Bishop of Strasbourg had there as the Elector and Arch-bishop of Cologne hath over that City But these are not rights of Soveraignty The Bishop of Geneva never was a Soveraign Prince but the Syndic and Councel of the City have always been Soveraign Magistrates in Civil Affairs The Historian tells you further the Duke of Savoy never had any lawful right over the City of Geneva They have had Judges who were called Vidons but the Judges had jurisdiction over no other but Savoyards settled in the Territory of Geneva And 't was by meer sufferance of the Genevois the Dukes of Savoy had a right of Jurisdiction over the Savoyards in their City 'T is confess'd the Dukes of Savoy have sometimes kept their Court in Geneva but without any Authority other than the permission of the Syndics and
which may very well be called an Age of Fury Par. In my opinion Christian Vertues ought to be constant what is done out of a principle of vertue in one time ought to be done in another for true vertue is always the same Perseverance is the Character and the Proof of its truth Had those of your Religion endur'd out of a principle of Christian Constancy the ills done them under the Reigns of Francis the first and Henry the second 't is probable the same Constancy would have accompanied them under the Reigns of Francis the second and Charles the ninth Hug. Law The same vertue Sir uses a different Conduct at different times Francis the first and Henry the second were Princes at full age and of years of Discretion they acted as they thought fit their own Faculties were their Guides there is no doubt but God had establish'd them for the exercise and tryal of his Church in her new Birth They were Persons of a Character against which we were not permitted to lift up a hand But Francis the second was a Child a weak Child incapable of business and govern'd by bloudy Princes who in his Name did what they pleas'd and would have extirpated the House of Bourbon and the whole Protestant Party Charles the ninth took the Scepter in hand at an Age he was as little capable to Govern as Francis the second 'T is certain Subjects are not oblig'd to bear the Grievances done them by those who usurp and abuse the Royal Authority with the same submission they ought to receive the Miseries they endure by the ill use Kings make of their proper Authority Hence it proceeds that the Reigns of most of our Kings in Minority are troubled with Civil Wars when those who have possest themselves of the Kings Person abuse his Name and the People think not themselves oblig'd to submit to a Tyrannical Power newly usurp'd We observ'd not nor acknowledg'd in the Princes of the House of Guise any Character that could oblige us to suffer their Persecutions they declar'd and acted against us much less could we acknowledge any such Character in the Pope his Substitutes or his Clergy the first Authors of our Miseries These were our Enemies these were the Party we engag'd against a Party that had no right to use us so barbarously 'T was not against our Kings but this sort of People we first took up Arms. True it is our Kings coming afterwards to their Majority found themselves engag'd before-hand to prosecute our ruine and we having our Swords in our hands made use of them to avoid the violence and fury of their Ministers But we never wanted either Love to their Persons or Faithfulness in their Service In the heat of the Civil Wars our Hugonots had constantly true French hearts and an inviolable Fidelity to their Kings We are reproach'd with the coming in of the English and the Rheisters into France Those who introduc'd them never design'd to make them Masters of the State but I can prove it by a hundred Evidences that the League which oppos'd us had a design to take the Crown of France from the lawful Heirs and to bring the Kingdom under the Dominion of Spain In the first Civil Wars under Charles the ninth the Princes had obliged themselves to give Havre de Grace to the English for security The Hugonots had no sooner obtained Peace but they labour'd with more Zeal then any other Subjects of France to regain the place Mez. Abr. An. 1563. Mezeray gives you an account of it All the French says he applyed themselves with extraordinary ardour to recover the Town The Hugonots were more forward and eager then the Catholicks to purge themselves from the Reproach cast upon them of having introduc'd Strangers into France In the late Wars for Religion the Rochelois reduc'd to the last Extremities were solicited by the Duke of Buckingham to yield to the King of England and acknowledge him their Soveraign and in case they would do so he promis'd they should be succour'd in a far better manner then they had been They rejected the Proposal with contempt and chose rather to expose themselves to all the Rigors of their Prince highly incens'd then to enter under the Dominion of a Stranger I could produce many such Examples to prove that our Hugonots though in Arms were never guided by a Spirit of Rebellion but took care only how to save their Religion and their Lives But enough of these Reflections If you think fit we will now come to the principal matter and consider of those Wars which are charg'd on us as a very high Crime Par. In arguing men turn things as they please our business now is matter of Fact and Historical Relation which must be done without shift or disguise that the truth may appear Pray think of that Sirs and do not enlarge your selves in useless Reflections Hug. Law 'T is my intention to do as you advise you shall have no Harangues from us I will only relate plain matter of Fact And that my Evidence may neither be suspitious nor obscure I will make use of no other then Monsieur Mezeray's Abridgment which I have in my hand I will lay aside the History of Tâ—uanus as written in a learned Language because I will not say any thing but what all the World may examine the truth of They reckon six Wars from the first taking up Arms in the beginning of the Reign of Charles the ninth till the end of the Reign of Henry the third that is that Arms were so many times taken up after the Rupture of the Edicts of Pacification obtain'd by the Reformed Our principal business will be to justify the first taking up Arms by the Princes of which the rest are but Consequents This first War cannot be better defin'd then by saying it was formed by the jealousy of two Partys in dispute not about Religion but the Government That it was fomented by Katherine de Medicis Regent of France under her Children in their Minority and that it was maintained by Zeal for Religion which came in by the By and made it so cruel and barbarous nothing being more furious and brutal then false Zeal We will examine the Rise and Progress of these two Parties Their first rise must be taken from the last years of the Reign of Henry the second which was after the loss of the Battel and Town of St. Quintin Mez. Abr. Ann. 1557 1558. the old Constable Montmorency and his two Nephews the Admiral Chatillon and Dandelot his Brother were taken Prisoners there The greatest and bravest of the Nobility of France being all perish'd or made Prisoners in those fatal Engagements the Duke of Guise at his return from Italy was look'd upon as the sole Tutelar Angel of France They would have given him the Title of Viceroy But thinking it too ambitious they gave him the Title of the Kings Lieutenant-General within and without the Kingdom
wicked of men doth it follow that because out of hatred to the Roman Religion and for Excluding the Duke of York from the Succession he would have suborn'd some Witnesses against the Queen and the Duke he must therefore have framed and invented this long train of Conspiracies and that multitude of particular matters of Fact Letters Meetings and Consultations that appear in the History of the Plot Doth it follow that because he would have suborn'd Witnesses he must therefore succeed in it Or if he hath had the fortune to find one Wretch or two capable to be Suborn'd is it probable he could have found out so great a number Hath he search'd England and Ireland all over to scum out for his purpose all the Rascals capable to give and maintain a false Testimony How many Witnesses have been produc'd about the Plot in Ireland Hath the Earl of Shaftsbury Suborn'd them too Is this probable Sir or will any man believe it Par. This probably is all you have to say to us about the Plot in England I think it high time to put an end to our Discourse it hath been somewhat long you may well be weary of speaking as we are of hearing Hug. Law We should have had much more to say to you if we were allow'd to speak and could produce all the proofs the Cabal hath found the means to bury Had we but seen Plunket's Tryal we could without doubt have added many things to what you have heard And if it were in our power to discover the Mysteries of the Irish Plot we should certainly stop their Mouths who say the reason of our ill usage in France is that the King may revenge the Outrages done to the Roman Catholicks in England Hug. Gen. Gentlemen if you please before we make an end because I am in the humour of making Retractations and Confessions I will confess t' you that speaking last year of the death of King Charles the 1st and how great a share the Jesuits had in his Death I gave you but a very imperfect account I have since search'd into the bottom of that affair and if you please will acquaint you what I have learnt Du Moulin's Answer to Philanax Anglicus pag. 58. I must tell you then that 't is known when the late King of England was Beheaded there was a Roman Priest a Confessour who having seen the King's Head cut off flourish'd his Sword and with Demonstrations of extraordinary joy cryed out Now we are rid of our greatest Enemy There is proof that the News of the King's Death being come to Roan and discours'd in a great Company of men very well instructed in the Mysteries of the Zealous Cabal one of them spoke thus Pag. 58 59. The King of England had promis'd us at his Marriage that the Catholick Religion should be re-establish'd in England and because he put it off from time to time we often call'd upon him to perform his promise we were so plain as to tell him That if he did it not we should be forc'd to make use of means to destroy him We gave him fair warning and because he would not follow our advice nor keep his Word with us we have kept ours with him A Gentleman of honour a Protestant who was in the Company gave me this Relation The Author who produces this Proof produces also a Letter from a Secretary of State who was actually in the Service of the Crown when the Accusation was brought against the Jesuits about the Death of the King this Secretary whose name was Morrice in answer to a Letter from the Author of the Accusation says to this purpose I am not allow'd nor does it become me to make Conjectures or draw Consequences from the Orders his Majesty gave me concerning you beyond what he hath precisely exprest You know in what trust and capacity I serv'd his Majesty Pag. 64. and what it was my duty to say and whereof to be silent But this I may safely say and will do it confidently that many Arguments did create a violent suspicion very near convincing Evidences that the Irreligion of the Papists was chiefly guilty of the Murder of that Excellent Prince the Odium whereof they would now file to the account of the Protestant Religion The same Author adds That a Protestant a little before the King's death met upon the Road from Roan to Diep a Company of Jesuits who taking him for a Catholick told him they were going into the Army of the Independants in England and that they would make work enough there An English Lady at Paris being seduc'd by a Jesuit turn'd Roman Catholick soon after came the news of the King of England's Death The Jesuit visiting the Lady found her all in Tears for this lamentable Accident Madam says the Jesuit smiling you have no reason to lament what hath happened the Catholicks are delivered of the greatest Enemy they had and his Death will be much to the advantage of the Catholick Religion The Lady angry at this discourse sent the Jesuit packing down Stairs and conceiv'd such horrour against the Roman Catholick Religion she would never after endure to hear speak of it A very understanding Man visiting the Monks at Dunkirk that he might sound them what they thought of the King's Death said That the Jesuits had labour'd much to bring about that great work A Monk answer'd That the Jesuits always assum'd to themselves the credit of every great Work but that their order had contributed to this as much if not more than they 'T is certain there was an universal Joy in all the English Seminaries on this side the Sea for the Death of the King They thought themselves so sure of their Designs that the Benedictines were taking care how to prevent the Jesuits from possessing themselves of the Lands belonging to their order and the Nuns quarrell'd among themselves who should be Lady Abbesses To conclude the same Author reports That he offer'd to prove in due course of Law Pag. 61 62. his Charge against the Jesuits for the Death of the King but that he was unwilling to publish his Proofs before hand lest those who were guilty of the Charge might have opportunity to get them out of the way or destroy them I do not understand English but I got a Friend of mine who does to Translate me this Book being an Answer to a Book entituled Philanax Anglicus I remember these Particulars in it which in my opinion sufficiently prove that the Charge of the King's Death on the Roman Catholicks is not altogether groundless but I begin to be sensible we abuse your patience Therefore Gentlemen we will break off here and take our Leaves Prov. I wish'd them gone a quarter of an hour ago The Lawyer as he took out of his Pocket the Oath he gave us to read dropt a Paper I took up and having half open'd it I spy'd written a top To the King I folded it up again
fell in Discourse of the Conduct of the Court of France as to the Hugonots He exclaim'd against the Policy of the Cabinet and said that for the good of the State it matter'd little what Religion the Subjects were of provided they were Loyal and dutiful to their Soveraign that a like Conduct had turn'd some States belonging to the King his Master into vast Deserts and Solitudes by the expulsion of the Moors who were a remnant of Jews and Mehometans multiplyed and spread over the Provinces of Castille Valentia and Andalusia They had been baptiz'd and to escape the Inquisition made profession of Christianity but privately us'd the Worship of their Ancient Religion Upon some false advice given Philip the second of Spain of a great design the Moors had against the Christians they were expell'd the Countrey They were not permitted to carry any thing away but some Commodities of Spain but were forc'd to leave behind their Gold and their Silver as well as their immoveables This was executed with extreme Rigor There went out of Spain twelve hundred thousand Men and Women the greatest part whereof perished several ways Spain having been well drained of men by sending Colonies into America was so exhausted by this great Evacuation 't is not repeopled to this day And that Countrey which was heretofore one of the fairest of Europe is now a vast and barren Desert and the Spaniards feel at this day the smart of their Barbarity God grant a like misfortune happens not to France and that it make not it self desolate by an expulsion of two millions of her best Inhabitants I cannot think those who endeavour it are much her friends Par. However Sir I am of Opinion the persons you speak of take themselves to be as great lovers of their Countrey as you or any of your Party And if the matter be disputed I very much question whether you will carry the Point Hug. Law I find all I say to you doth but vex without convincing you But you will excuse the Expressions of miserable persons who have not the Liberty to speak in Publick they may be allowed at least to complain in Private and when they can do it without danger Since you are not pleas'd with a Discourse tending to demonstrate that the Enemies of the Reformed of France are Enemies of the State I will trouble you but with a word more on that Subject You cannot but believe that Forraign Allyances are of some importance to France You understand the Politicks so well you cannot be ignorant a State without Allyes is not capable of doing great things This makes Princes labour perpetually to break those Engagements their Neighbours have with their Enemies and to perswade them to espouse their Interests The greatest part of the Allyes of France are Protestants The Swisses the Elector of Brandenburg the King of Swede and heretofore the Hollander who perhaps may again renew his Allyance But can you believe to use the Protestants of France as they are dealt with at present a proper means to engage strictly the Protestant Allyes of the Crown Par. I do not see the King finds any great difficulty in making Allyances with protestant Princes or that they concern themselves much or trouble his Ministers with your pretended Calamities Hug. Law The King is now in so elevated a Condition that all comply with him Yet the private disgusts of his Allyes are still in being though they do not appear They are Seeds that will certainly spring up sooner or later States are not always in a flourishing Condition when Fortune declares against them old grudges break out 'T is not to be imagin'd men can out of Policy wholly devest themselves of love to their Religion and become altogether insensible of the Calamities they suffer whom they call Brethren though the present State of Affairs may oblige them to dissemble 'T is very well known the Allyes I have named have heretofore concern'd themselves in our Calamities though far less than those we now endure 'T is not their Affections but the Times are chang'd The English naturally hate the French and find new reason to hate them in the rigorous Proceedings of the Catholicks of France against the Protestants there who profess the same Religion with the English To prove that strangers are somewhat concern'd for our Calamities I need but read the Letters of his Majesty of England to the Bishop and Mayor of London they are newly published and you will not repent your reading them being Letters worthy the Piety of that Prince and capable to clear him from any unjust suspitions that might have been had of him in respect of his Religion His Majesties Letters to the Bishop of London and the Lord Mayor To the Right Reverend Father in God Our Right Trusty and Well-beloved Counsellor HENRY Bishop of London CHARLES R. RIght Reverend Father in God Our Right trusty and Well-beloved Counsellor We greet you well Whereas We are given to understand that a great number of Persons and whole Families of Protestants in the Kingdom of France have lately withdrawn themselves from thence to avoid those hardships and extremities which are brought upon them there for the sake of their Religion and have betaken themselves into this Our Kingdom as a place of Refuge where they may enjoy the liberty and security of their Persons and Consciences And whereas most of them if not all having been forced to abandon their native abodes and accommodations in haste and confusion must needs be in a great measure destitute of means for their present subsistence and relief We being touched with a true sence and compassion of their deplorable Condition and looking upon them not only as distressed Strangers but chiefly as persecuted Protestants very desirous to extend Our Royal Favour and Protection towards them not doubting but all Our good and loving Subjects will be also willing and forward on their parts to afford them what helps and comforts they can in this their day of Affliction We do therefore in very especial manner recommend their Case unto your pious Consideration and Care hereby requiring you forthwith to give Directions unto all the Clergy of our City of London and parts adjacent that in their solemn Congregations upon the next Lords day or as soon as may be possible they represent the sad state of these poor People and by the most effectual Arguments of Christian-charity excite their Parishioners to contribute freely towards the supply of their necessities We shall not need to press you in this behalf well knowing your Zeal in so good a work which will be no less pleasing to Vs than We are sure it will be acceptable to Almighty God And Our further Pleasure is that you take care that the Moneys so collected which We expect should be forthwith returned into your hands be distributed in such manner as may best answer those ends for which this Collection is intended And so We bid you heartily farewell
Given at Our Court at Windsor the 22d. day of July 1681. In the Three and Thirtieth year of Our Reign By his Majesties Command L. Jenkins To Our Right trusty and Well-beloved Sir Patience Ward Knight Lord Mayor of Our City of London CHARLES R. RIght Trusty and Well-beloved We greet you well Being given to understand that very many Protestants and even whole Families finding themselves under great Pressures and Persecutions in the Kingdom of France for the sake of their Religion have chosen rather to leave their native Country and Conveniences than to hazard the Ruine of their Consciences and therefore great numbers of them are come and more are endeavouring every day to come into this Kingdom for Shelter and Security We are very desirous that here they should not only meet with all kind Reception but also with that Benevolence and Charity which may in some reasonable measure contribute towards their present Relief and Comfort in this their Affliction To which end We have signified Our Pleasure to the Bishop of London requiring him to give Directions unto the Clergy of that Our City and places adjacent to represent the sad Condition of these poor People in their solemn Congregations and also to excite their Parishioners to the free and chearful Relief of their distressed Brethren But as we cannot have too many hands employed in so good a work so We have thought fit to recommend the same unto you also that by your encouragement and endeavour Our good Subjects inhabiting in that Our City may be induced and obliged to a more than ordinary demonstration of their compassion and liberality on this Occasion And so We bid you heartily farewell Given at Our Court at Windsor the 22d. day of July 1681. in the Three and Thirtieth year of Our Reign By his Majesties Command L. Jenkins The Hugonot Gentlemen YOU know without doubt that the King of England proceeded further in our favour declaring all the persecuted Protestants who should come into England Denizens of his Kingdom And that all those who should transport their effects thither in Merchandise should import them Custom-free and whereas the Collection for the French Protestants in England was at first made only in the City and Suburbs of London the King hath commanded it should be made throughout the Kingdom Nor is it England alone opens its arms to receive the distressed Protestants of France They are entertained in all places of Europe The Duke of Hanan hath offer'd to receive four hundred Families Swede and Denmark tho very remote declare themselves ready to embrace the scatter'd Remains of the Protestant Churches of France The Charity of England towards them is very edifying yet I confess I am not equally satisfied with all other Protestants who might afford Refuge to their persecuted Brethren I have seen some of them return'd as Persons in despair from places where they had promised themselves support resolv'd to hazard all and run again into the temptation they had fled from being so scandaliz'd with the cold reception and hard usage they had found that they were ready to hearken to the solicitations of the Missionaries Hug. Law I confess the carriage of some strangers towards our persecuted Protestants appear'd to me quite contrary to the spirit of Christianity And if it continue what will become of so many poor Peasants and Tradesmen who groan at this day in search of the means to have liberty of Conscience What will become of so many eminent Persons who will be oblig'd to quit their Countrey naked and destitute to follow Jesus Christ and can carry nothing with them but their Lives and their Consciences What can be more Lamentable than to see how cold mens Charity and Zeal is 'T is more deplorable than the Persecution What is become of that spirit of our Ancestors that made them have all things common among them That render'd every private Person sensible of the publick Calamity In the beginning of the Reformation if those Protestants who were in peace and safety had done nothing for those who were under Persecution the Light of the Reformation had been long since put out in most places of Germany the Low-Countries and France Hug. Gent. Mens Charity I hope will be awaken'd again to do something for God and themselves For in truth the Compassion the Protestants in safety should express for their afflicted Brethren of France is but a good Office done to themselves There is not a Protestant State Neighbouring on France but is under apprehension of its Arms and hath cause to fear it may one day feel the miseries the Reformed of this Kingdom groan under now Where-ever the King carries his Arms those wicked Councellors who perswade him to ruine our Religion will carry their Counsels and make use of the Fortune of this great Monarch to accomplish their designs This may give them who at present are in safety cause enough to fear they may not always continue so It would become them to merit a Compassion they may one day stand in need of by exercising Compassion towards those who are actually in misery But above all they ought by Works of Mercy and the Exercise of fervent Charity and strict Union among themselves to divert the Wrath of God that threatens them and to endeavour to escape the greatest of Misfortunes the loss of Liberty and oppression of their Consciences I cannot forbear adding that the Children of this World are wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light and that their Zeal not only upbraids but may justly make us asham'd of our coldness 'T is difficult to express the great pains the Roman Catholicks take they spare no cost to make Converts as they call them There are very considerable Funds assign'd for the Maintenance and Encouragement of those they have perswaded to change their Religion The King allows out of his Revenue vast sums for gaining and recompencing these new Converts We have known lewd Women converted big with Bastard Children who had Pensions of four or five hundred Livers allow'd them 'T is a Prodigy to me that we are not willing for the support of poor distressed Protestants to be at that expence they of the other Party are at for perverting of Souls I wish all Protestant States would imitate the principal Towns of the Low Countreys which give Lodging in a manner gratis to all those who fly thither for Refuge besides immunity from Parish-Duties and Charges levyed for the use of the Town and furnish with Money and Goods those that have none till they are in a Condition to subsist by themselves and make great Collections in their Towns for that purpose Hug. Law Though all that could be wish'd is not every where done for those who leave their Countrey to save their Souls yet sufficient is done to make it appear that the Kings Protestant Allyes and Neighbours are much grieved at the ill usage of their Brethren and that disgusted with the present Conduct of
since the Popes call'd themselves the Emperours most humble Servants and said they were but dust and ashes in their presence I see there the Works of Gregory the Great and could let you see in them the Style of the Popes in those days when they writ to the Emperours but I had rather let you see it in the Margin of Father Maimbourgh's History of Lutheranism You will allow me who am a Hugonot the pleasure which is not small to take out of the Margin of a Jesuits Book those words of St. Gregory which the Ministers have so often quoted Hist Luth. lib. 11. Ann. 1530. Ego verò haec Dominis loquens quid sum nisi pulvis vermis ego indignus famulus vester I that take the Liberty to speak thus to my Lords what am I but dust and a Worm your unworthy Servant You will do us a pleasure to read the Text of Fa. Maimbourgh This holy Bishop forbore not to execute what had been commanded him having remain'd satisfy'd with making a most humble Remonstrance to the Emperour his Master in a Letter extreamly submissive This vexes you Sir as it pleases us I confess our joy may be tax'd of some malice but 't is a matter so rare and so singular to hear a profest Jesuit and one under the fourth vow speak thus of a Pope you will pardon us for being pleas'd with it but the days are long since gone when they spoke thus at Rome The Popes have since those days assum'd and exercis'd a Power to Depose Emperours and Kings to declare them Tyrants to raise their Subjects against them when they do any thing the Popes pretend to be contrary to Religion This is a matter so publickly notorious it hath been prov'd a hundred times Now Sir I will dare your Roman Catholicks to charge us with our pretended Rebellions and having maintain'd our Religion by Arms and give me leave to tell you I wonder the prudence of your Churchman and the interest of his Party permitted him to renew the memory of our Wars for Religion for he might have easily foreseen we would not fail to expose to publick view so many horrible Conspiracies those of his Character and Religion every day plot and carry on in those Countreys where the Supremacy of the Pope is not acknowledg'd If we acted a part in the Civil Wars of France they cannot reproach us with having design'd the murder of our Princes and actually assassinated them We have never been charg'd with having design'd and endeavored to blow up with powder a whole State in a moment not only the head but all its principal Members We are now under great Sufferings in France but amidst all our Sufferings we glory that our very Enemies bear witness of our Fidelity and Innocence but the Martyrs of your Church-man those poor Catholicks he laments and bewails that they are cruelly put to death in England under pretence of a pretended Conspiracy are sufficiently convicted to have been tampering with as horrible an Enterprize as any hath been design'd this Age. Par. We have done with that Sir let 's hear no more of it I pray whether the English Catholicks be guilty or not let not us inquire further this Gentleman hath said as much on that Subject as you can do not attack us you will find work enough to defend your selves you think you have said enough but you have not spoken a word of the last Wars you rais'd in the Kingdom the Wars of Montauban of Rochel c. Hug. Law As to the Plot in England you shall not scape so you shall hear a great deal more of it if you please I know all this Gentleman said to you of it he told you what he knew but not all that may be known of it such order is taken to hinder the transportation of authentick Copies of the Tryals of those Criminals into Foreign parts we scarce know any thing of them so that you are not to admire this Gentleman seem'd not throughly instructed But because that formidable Pamphlet you took out of your pocket charges us to have occasion'd a Persecution against the Catholicks in England under pretence of a pretended Conspiracy you must allow us to justify our selves a little more fully and to add to what we have said what is since come to our knowledge but If you please I will first speak a word or two to the last Wars of Religion in France about the beginning of this Age I am for plain dealing I will never call evil good nor good evil I am of their number who cannot approve of these Wars nor make it their business to justify them The places of safety which had been given us were the seeds of this War the King was desirous to have them put into his hands the Hugonots were obstinately bent to retain them It was ill done without doubt they ought to have restor'd them and to have rely'd on the Providence of God and the King's Justice Yet this we have to say for our selves First 'T is not just to charge a whole body of men with that which was done but by a part Perhaps three fourths of all the Protestants of France were for a Submission These doubtless would have carry'd it both for Number and Prudence but they were the weakest of the Party The turbulent Spirits were Masters of all their Forces and Arms. Secondly We say the Religion of great men keeps them not from being ambitious They reign in Confusions and make themselves formidable by raising Troubles they abuse the simplicity of the People and make them pay for the Follies and Crimes of those who abuse them This was one cause of the last Wars we had great men of our perswasion who being in the head of a great Party made themselves formidable at Court for the strong places they were Masters of These men foresaw that by the change of Affairs design'd at Court their Credit and their Pensions would be lost they did all they could to bear up themselves and engag'd in their Quarrel the people whose Zeal is always sufficiently ignorant and ill enough guided Methinks some charity ought to be had for people who have no ill intention but only the misfortune to permit themselves to be seduc'd by mistaking interests of Religion It must be considered also that most of those who took Arms were frightned into it Our Enemies who desir'd nothing more than to see us rise that they might take that occasion to destroy us caus'd Rumors to be spread that there was a design to massacre all the Hugonots that it was agreed by a secret Article in the Treaty of Spain and of the Marriages lately made The pressing so earnestly to have again into the King's hands the places of strength given by his Father to the Protestants heightned our suspicion The horrible Image of the Massacres and Torments of the last Age was fresh in memory many had been Spectators and some had been
The same Witness in the Tryals of Green Berry and Hill gives in his Deposition the whole Story of the Murder of Godfrey He says That to agree the manner of that Murder they had several Meetings at an Ale-house at the sign of the Plow that they labour'd much to perswade him it was no Crime to kill a turbulent and over-busy man that the project being agreed they had dogg'd Godfrey several times that at last about nine a Clock at night the Conspirators having observed Godfrey returning from St. Clements Lawrence Hill went to the Gate toward the street and meeting Sir Edmund intreated him to come and part two men who were a fighting by the Water-side that Godfrey having follow'd Hill when they had him at the end of the Pales Hill flung a cord about his neck and strangled him that Green finding he was not quite dead wrung his neck about that having kept the Corps some days and carried it from place to place at last they laid it a cross a Horse-back carried it into the fields and threw it into a Ditch having first run his Sword through his body Robert Jennison another Witness in Wakeman's Tryal deposes he had heard Ireland one of the Conspirators say that the Roman Catholick Religion was to be shortly set up in England that there was but one person could hinder it and that they could easily poison the King that the same Ireland being told by the Deponent that the King went a Hunting and a Fishing with a very thin Guard said he should be very glad they were rid of the King In Stafford's Tryal the same Jennison deposes that in the Meetings of the Priests and Jesuits he had been at he heard them say It was necessary for the Good of the Catholick Religion to alter the Government and to reform it after the model of France that Ireland a Priest had solicited him to come along with him to help him to dispatch the King that the same Priest had ask'd him if he knew any brave and resolute Irish-men fit to give that great blow That being in Harcourt's Chamber with many other Jesuits he had heard them say that if C. R. would not be R. C. he should not be long C. R. the meaning whereof was that if Charles Rex would not be a Roman Catholick he should not long be Charles Rex that they made him take the Sacrament and an Oath of Secrecy and than discovered to him the whole Plot. In the same Tryal Smith declares that having been born a Protestant Abbot Monutague and Father Gascoyne had labour'd at Paris to make him a Roman Catholick telling him that in a short time the Catholick Religion should be the praedominant Religion in England that having design'd to go to Rome and passing through Provence in his way to Italy they had oblig'd him to many Conferences with Cardinal Grimaldi who at last perswaded him to turn Catholick and that he was made Priest That Cardinal Grimaldi told him he had Correspondence with many great English Lords that he was very well assur'd the Roman Catholick Religion should be prevalent in England but that there was one man they must be rid of and that was the King that in truth he was a good Man but however he must be made away because he was an Obstacle to their Designs The same Witness says that having left Provence he went into the English Colledge at Rome where he continued long and that he heard the Jesuits say in their Sermons and ordinary discourse That the King of England was not truly King because he was an Heretick and that whoever kill'd him should do a very meritorious act And when he and five or six more were ready to leave that house the Fathers earnestly exhorted them to maintain that Maxim That People are not oblig'd to obey the King of England And that they should take care to instruct accordingly in Confession all those they should find capable to enter into this great design There is another Witness Dennis by name a Roman Catholick and a Jacobine Monk and such at the time of his Deposition having neither quitted his Religion nor Order This Monk deposes that being in Spain at Madrid in the Chamber of James Lenck an Irish-man Arch-Bishop of Tuam this Arch-Bishop told him That Dr. Oliver Plunket was to be imploy'd very speedily to procure Succours from France to be sent into Ireland for maintaining the Catholick Religion in Ireland and England and that be the Arch-Bishop would in a short time go in person into that Countrey to advance so pious a work The same Witness deposes that the Earl of Carlingford s Brother caus'd great Sums of Money to be levy'd in the Covents and that they said openly this money was design'd for the bringing over an Army into Ireland when time should serve Edward Turbervil another Witness swears expresly That Stafford being lodg'd at Paris at the corner of Beaufortstreet the Deponent came to him and stay'd with him several days That Stafford having taken an Oath of Secrecy from him not to discover what he should trust him with he told him at last they were in search of one to kill the King of England who was an Heretick and consequently no King but rather a Rebel against Almighty God and that he solicited him to undertake this great Action Here Sir are a great many Witnesses besides Oates and Bedlow who swear as home as they Can any reasonable man imagine there can be found so many Infernal Spirits as here are Witnesses capable to invent so horrible a Calumny to destroy a Religion and all that profess it And if it were possible to suborn one Witness or two have you ever seen a president of such a Subornation that hath gain'd so great a number of Witnesses Besides what is there improbable in this History of the Plot Is it not the Spirit and Custom of your Bigots and blind Zealots to use such means as these to promote their Religion Read the Life of Queen Elizabeth and you will find she was no sooner delivered from one Conspiracy but another was fram'd against her The words of Stafford who passes for a Martyr among you are remarkable In his Speech to the Lord High-Steward Stafford's Tryal pag. 200. and the Peers his Judges he declares That he did believe those of the Roman Religion had since the Reformation of the Church of England entred into several most wicked and most dangerous Conspiracies particularly the Conspiracy of Babington and that of the Earl of Westmorland or the Northern Rebellion raised by the Papists in Queen Elizabeth 's time He declares further That he believ'd there was a wicked Conspiracy in the Reign of King James wherein some of the Conspirators were Roman-Catholicks and some Protestants And that after this followed that execrable Plot called The Gunpowder-Treason And when Sir could they have made choice of a more favourable time wherein to revive and reduce into practise those bloudy
two Witnesses in who heard all the Prisoners said and gave so exact an Account of their Discourse that they confest all But would you know the cause they keep their Secrets so well 'T is the horrible Oath they impose on all those who enter into such Conspiracies Read Mezeray where I have left him open The last of January eight of the principal Conspirators were executed at London for High-Treason not one of them accus'd the Priests or the Monks for they were oblig'd to Secrecy by terrible Oaths To satisfy you fully in this particular I will let you see the form of the Oath administred to all those who entred into this last Plot. There is a Copy of it The Oath for the Plot in England I Whose Name is underwritten do in the presence of Almighty God and of the Blessed Virgin Mary the Blessed Arch-Angel Michael the Blessed St. John the Baptist the holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and all other the Saints in Heaven and of you my Ghostly Father declare from the bottom of my heart that I believe the Pope the Vicar-General of Iesus Christ to be the sole and only Head of the Church upon Earth and that by vertue of the Keys and the power of binding and looseing given to his Holiness by our Lord Jesus Christ he hath power to Depose all Heretick Kings and Princes to put them out of their Office or kill them And therefore I will from the bottom of my heart defend this Doctrine and the Rights of his Holiness against all sorts of Vsurpers especially against him who pretends to be King of England because he hath falsified his Oath made to the Agents of his Holiness by not keeping his promise to Establish the Holy Roman Catholick Religion in England I Renounce and Disavow all manner of Promise and Submission to the said present King of England and all obedience to his Officers and inferiour Magistrates and I believe that the Protestant Doctrine is Heretical and Damnable and that all those who do not forsake it shall be damned I will assist with all my power the Agents of his Holiness here in England to extirpate and root out the said Protestant Doctrine and to destroy the said pretended King of England and all those his Subjects who will not adhere to the Holy See of Rome and the Religion there profest Moreover I promise and declare that I will keep Secret and not divulge directly or indirectly by word or by writing or other Circumstance whatsoever what you my Spiritual Father or any other engag'd in the advancement of this Holy and Pious Design shall propose and give me in charge and that I will diligently and constantly promote it and that neither hope of Reward nor fear of Punishment shall make me discover any thing relating thereto and that if I be discover'd I will never confess any Circumstance of it All these things I swear by the most Holy Trinity and by the Blessed Body of God which I intend to receive presently and that I will accomplish and inviolably perform them all and I call to Witness all the Angels and Saints of Heaven that such is my true intention In Witness whereof I receive the most holy and Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist Hug. Law Well Sir and what say you of this This comes from good hands from a great house allyed to that of England But had it fallen from the Clouds we might have known it by the Character had it been a forg'd piece it must needs have been made by a Roman Catholick and one deeply vers'd in the Cabal of these blind Zealots for there is not a Protestant and but few Roman Catholicks who understand the style and conduct of this Cabal with so much perfection as he must have done who should invent this form of an Oath And now Sir you may if you can draw from the silence of the Conspirators an Argument against the truth of the Plot. Par. Since you are so much for answering I should be very glad Sir to hear what you have to say to the business of my Lord Howard and the Earl of Shaftsbury This last will be shortly convicted of having suborn'd Witnesses against the Queen of England and the Duke of York to make them Complices in the Plot. May not he who would have suborn'd Witnesses against the Queen and first Prince of the Bloud be rationally presum'd to have suborn'd Witnesses against five or six pitiful Priests Hug. Law We hope Sir the innocence of the Earl of Shaftsbury will save him Perhaps it will be objected he may be more for a Republican Government than may befit the Subject of a Monarchy but we cannot believe him capable of the base actions he is charg'd with If he miscarry he will not be the first innocent person hath perish'd by the malice of false Witnesses Can any thing be clearer than that this Charge against him is a Counter-battery raised by your Catholicks Nothing can be more proper to make men suspect that all hath been said of the Plot is meerly fictitious than to produce men to testify Endeavours have been us'd to suborn them For if Endeavours have been us'd to suborn them why not to suborn others I wonder only this act of the Tragedy began so late 'T is true we may see something of it in Wakeman's Tryal and in Dugdale's Depositions For this Witness tells us he had seen a Letter sent from Paris to St. Omers from St. Omers to London from London to Tixal wherein it was advis'd That the Presbyterians should be accus'd of a Design against the King's Life which would oblige those of the Church of England to joyn with the Catholicks to destroy the Presbyterians Observe now the Event of this Counsel The Earl of Shaftsbury is look'd upon as the head of the Presbyterians the Presbyterians are the great Enemies of the Conspirators and labour with most Zeal the Discovery of the Plot. We must destroy their Credit say you and charge them with the blackest of Crimes and who are the Witnesses made use of against the Earl of Shaftsbury They are all Roman Catholicks Can you think it a hard matter in a business where the safety of a whole Party and of the Roman Religion is at stake to find five or six persons who will Sacrifice themselves to save the honour of their Religion and the Life of their Patriarchs And how do they Sacrifice themselves Their Ghostly Fathers perswade them that to bear false Witness against Shaftsbury the great Enemy of the Roman Church is so far from being an offence to God that they do him very considerable Service in it So that instead of one or two I believe they may find a hundred false Witnesses in this affair and this is the cause honest men are so much in fear for the Life of that Lord. But let us suppose things to be as you would have them let us put the Case that Shaftsbury is the most