Kings and dispose of Kingdoms This we learn at large from Bellarmin Suarez Turrecremata Card. Perron Thom. Aquin. Ledesma Malderius to pass by innumerable others all whose Works were publisht by Authority and so own'd as consonant to the Doctrines of the Church to which may be added the Pope's Definition who makes it authentic Law in these words We say and define and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary to salvation for every human Creature to be subject to the Bishop of Rome and this Law of Pope Boniface the Eighth's making he effectually commented on himself of whom Platina says That he made it his business to give and take away Kingdoms to expel men and restore them at his pleasure All which that it might want no Sanction or Authority to render it the Doctrine of the Church is justified in the third and fourth Lateran Council the Council of Lions the Council of Constance all which call themselves General and therefore speak the Doctrine of the Church What has been done in this kind since the days of Gregory VII throughout Europe would fill a large Volume in the bare Narration whoever has a mind to see those black Annals need not consult Protestant Writers but read Baronius or Platina and there he will satisfie himself Behold at large the last and greater Triumphs of the Capitol Crowns and Scepters and the necks of Emperors and Kings trampled upon in great Self-denial by Christ's humble Vicar their Realms and Countries taken from them and involv'd in blood by the Lieutenant of the Prince of Peace Subjects discharg'd from their Allegiance in the right of him who himself disown'd the being a divider and a Judge and in a word the whole world made his Kingdom who pretends his interest deriv'd from our Lord Jesus who disclaim'd the having a kingdom of this World So that it was not said amiss by Passavantius That the Devil made tender of all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them to our Lord Christ but he refused them afterwards he made the same offer to his Viear the Pope and he presently accepted with the Condition annext of falling down and worshipping The English Reader who desires to be satisfied in matter of Fact may please to consul the History of Popish Treasons and Vsurpations not long since written by Mr. Foulis to pass by others who have also dealt in that Subject At present I shall only add that although our neighbouring Princes have difficulty enough given them by this Universal Monarch who like his Predecessors in Heathen Rome makes it a piece of his Prerogative to have Kings his Vassals yet they often help themselves by some advantages which our Sovereign is not allowed The most Christian King has his Capitularies Pragmatic Sanctions Concordats and the Priviledges of the Gallican Church to plead upon occasion And his Catholic Majesty as the eldest Son of the Church has several Rights of Primogeniture especially in the Kingdom of Sicily But the Crown of England is not to be treated with such respect it alas ever since the days of Henry the Second or at least King John is held in fee of the Pope and we are in hazard to be call'd unto account for the Arrear of 1000 Marks per An. payable ever since that time And Cardinal Allen has given it for good Canon Law that without the approbation of the See Apostolic none can be lawful King or Queen of England by reason of the antient accord made between Alexander the Third in the year 1171. and Henry the Second then King when he was absolv'd for the Death of S. Thomas of Canterbury That no man might lawfully take thâ—t Crown nor be accounted as King till he were confirmed by the Soveraign Pastor of our souls which for the time should be This accord being afterwards renewed about the year 1210 by King John who confirmed the same by oath to Pandulphus the Popes Legate at the special request and procurement of the Lords and Commons as a thing most necessary for the preservation of the Realm from the unjust usurpation of Tyrants and avoiding other inconveniences which they had proved c. But if this be but the single Opinion of a probable Doctor we may have the same asserted by an infallible one Pope Innocent the IV who before his Colledge of Cardinals and therefore in likelihood è Cathedra declares that the King of England was his Vassal nay to speak truth his Slave From hence it is that the succeeding Popes have been so free on all occasions of turning out of doors these their Tenants upon every displeasure and little pet Not to mention the old misadventures of Richard the Second King John c. Hence it was that Paul the Third sent against King Henry VIII in the Year 1538 his terrible thundring Bull as the Author of the History of the Council of Trent calls it such as never was used by his Predecessors nor imitated by his successors in the punishments to the King were deprivation of his Kingdom and to his adherents of whatsoever they possest commanding his Subjects to deny him Obedience and Strangers to have any Commerce in that Kingdom and all to take Arms against and to persecute both himself and his followers granting them their Estates and Goods for their prey and their Persons for their Slaves Upon like terms Paul the Fourth would not acknowledge Queen Elizabeth because the Kingdom was a Fee of the Papacy and it was audaciously done of her to assume it without his leave And therefore Pius the Fifth went on and fairly deposed her by his Bull dated Feb. 25. 1570. but because the stubborn Woman would needs be Queen for all this Pope Gregory XIII let his Bull loose again upon her and having two hopeful Bastards to provide for to the one he gives the Kingdom of England to the other that of Ireland Nor was she unqueen'd enough by all this but Sixtus Quintus gives away her Dominions once more to the King of Spain and after all when nothing of all this would thrive Clement the VIII sends two Breves for failing into England one to the Layty the other to the Clergy commanding them not to admit any other but a Catholic though never so near in bloud to the Succession in plain terms to exclude the Family of our Sovereign from the Crown In the year 1626 Vrban the Eighth forbids his beloved Sons the Catholics of England the pernicious and unlawful Oath of Allegiance Yet more in the late unnatural Rebellion in Ireland the Loyal Catholics as now they call themselves submitted that unhappy Kingdom to his aforesaid Holmess Pope Vrban to pass by other offers no less treasonable and after that as we are credibly informed Pope Innocent the X. bestowed it as a favour on his dear Sister and much dearer Mistris Donna Olympia And sure we have all reason in the
And the rest of the People of England would do well to think whether they are fitted for a Journey to Rome as often as they shall be called thither I do not mean the divertisement of Travel or devotion of Pilgrimage but the compulsion of Citations from that Court where the attendance and expence is not likely to be less than formerly it was when it occasioned the groans and sad complaints of our Fore-fathers which though they have escaped our experimental knowledge sufficiently appear in all our Histories Or should the English Law have some quarter given it and be allowed a little Chamber practise this must be only in reference to the Layty All Ecclesiastics are under a more perfect dispensation and only accountable to the Apostolic See either for their Actions or concerns the benefits of which though the Secular Priests share in some proportion the Regulars much more liberally enjoy being owned by the Pope as his Souldiers and Praetorian bands listed under the Generals of their several Orders maintained indeed at the cost of the Countries where they live but for the service of their Soveraign abroad to whom they owe an entire and blind obedience And that they may give no Hostages to the State where they recide are forbid to marry So that if Popery should prevail we must besides all charges necessary to secure our selves from forreign enemies both by Land and Sea constantly maintain a vast Army of possibly an hundred thousand men for such were the old numbers to assure our slavery to the Roman Yoke Nor are these Priviledges of the Church only personal the places themselves which these religious men possess are hallowed into Sanctuaries and give protection unto any criminal that treads within their thresholds the most horrid murder or barbarous villany is to have the benefit of the Clergy and if the Malefactor have but time to step into a Cloyster he fears no farther prosecution 7. But besides the inconvenience of submitting to a forrein Law that certain mark of slavery and the intolerable burthens that attend its execution it will be of moment to advise how well our property and interest in our estates will stand secur'd And though when Princes are upon their good behaviour to be disseized of their dominions whenever they offend his Holiness of Rome the Pesant or the Gentleman have no great reason to expect indemnity yet should the Farm or Mannor house be too low a mark for the Roman Thunderer to level at 't is not to be imagined the Lord Abbots and the Lands of all religious houses will be past by as trifles The Church is ever a Minor and cannot be prescribed against by time or barred in her claims and our holy Father out of his Paternal care will find himself concern'd to vindicate the Orphan committed to his trust Some perchance who enjoy those Lands think they need not apprehend any thing because they hold under Acts of Parliament But they who imagine this should consider that the same strength that can repeal those Laws that establish Protestancy may also do as much for those which suppress Religious houses and no body can tell what the force and swing of a violent turn especicially in England may produce where we seldom proceed with coldness or reserve Acts of resumption are not things unheard of in ours or in forrein stories Nor is the consent of the Pope in Queen Maries days a better security for in case of a change of Religion all those grants will be interpreted a bare permission and that conditional in order to the great end of reclaiming an heretical Kingdom which not being then accepted of and finally submitted to will not be thought obligatory when Papists by their own skill or interest have gotten the power into their hands King Charles the First yeilded at the Isle of Wight that the Church Lands should be leased out for 99 years in order to a present peace and settlement of all things through the interposition of a powerful and violent faction it was not then accepted of Does any may think the Obligation of leasing for 99 years remains now Let our Lay-Abbots apply this to their case and then judge whether they upon a revolution will be more secure of their Possessions than the late Purchassers were or whether those Purchassers were not as confident of transmitting their Acquisitions to their posterity as any possessor of Church Lands now is or has been The King of France not long since has redeemed back to the Crown those Demesnes which belong'd to it paying back such sums as were really laid out by the Purchasers and allowing the mean profits as interest for the money so laid out Which method of procedure has been defended by very considerable Arguments to be just and equitable If the money expended on the Church penniworths at the dissolution of religious houses were now refunded and the advantage of above 100 years profit already received were thrown into the bargain though the present proprietaries would have an ill exchange yet there would be so much plausibleness in the grounds of it as in the zeal and heat of a turn would not be easily controul'd especially if it be farther prest that the first claim from the Acts of Parliament suppressing Church Lands appear to be not full and peremptory the Lands of the first suppression in the 27 year of Henry 8. not seeming to intend an alienation to common and secular uses but to have been vested in the King in trust that the revenues might be employed to the pleasure of Almighty God and to the honour and profit of this Realm As to the second in 31 year of Henry 8. The Act supposes and is built upon the alienations legally made by the respective religious Houses and Corporations who are said of their own voluntary minds good wills and assents without constraint co-action or compulsion of any manner of person or persons by the due order and course of the common Laws of this Realm of England and by their sufficient Writings of Record under their Covent and common Seals c. Now to the verefying of these particulars a great many doubtful Circumstances and nice Points of Law are easily drawn in as requisite the suggesting whereof in the forementioned cases however slight and frivolous they may be no body can tell what force they will have when dilated on by a Roman Catholic Advocate and interpreted by an infallible Legislator That all this is not an idle dream suggested to make Popery odious will be manifest to anyone who will take pains to read what a french Marquess of that Religion has lately written on this very subject who having represented us as a people without Friends without Faith without Religion without probity without any justice mistrustful inconstant to the utmost extremity cruel impatient gurmandizers proud audacious covetous fit only for handy-strokes and ready execution but incapable of managing a
War with discretion After this friendly character he proceeds to shew by what ways and methods we are to be destroyed which are first to put us to the expences of a War and by raising of forces create a jealousie between the King and his people Then to amuse us with fears of invasion Thirdly To stir up the several Parties among us and to favour one Sect against another especially the Catholics promising secretly to the Benedictines as from the King of England which they will easily believe that they shall be restored to all that they formerly possest according to the Monasticon lately printed there Whereupon says this worthy Author the Monks will move heaven and earth and the Catholics will declare themselves It will not be material to transcribe the whole design laid down for our destruction by this bold Writer which with all other Machinations the providence of God and the prudence of his Sacred Majesty will we hope frustrate This is enough to shew that there are persons in the world who can yet nourish hopes of destroying the Nation and repossessing the Lands of the Church and in printed books make a publick profession of them But if one general Act of Resumption should not disseize at one stroke all the lay possessorâ— of Church Lands 't is plain that in case of Popery by retail they will be all drawn in for what Papist in his last Agonies will obtain absolution without satisfaction first made to Holy Church for the goods sacrilegiously detained Or how will he escape the lying in Purgatory at least and frying there for several thousands of years who instead of having benifit from the Indulgencies of the Church is solemnly cursed and anathematized with the worst of Heretics in the Bulla Caenae as also the Declaration of the Council of Trent upon the score of being robbers of the Church 'T is not to be hoped they should have any benefit from the Treasure of the Church who have enrich'd themselves with that real and material treasure belonging to her which is the only price that buys the other Indeed they who without the plea of a precedent right in few centuries gain'd to themselves a fifth part of the whole Kingdom will not doubt in a much shorter time having the forementioned pretences to recover it again even the six hundred forty five Abbeys whereof twenty seven had their Abbots Peers of England The ninety Colledges two thousand three hundred seventy four Chanteries and free Chappels and one hundred and ten Hospitals which besides the lesser dissolutions of Templars Hospitalers Friers Alien and others that preceded fell together under the hands of King Henry VIII 8. It would be farther weigh'd in reference to the wealth and flourishing of the Kingdom and what is necessarily required thereto the preservation of Trade and the value of Lands and Rents that the more Popery grows the more will idleness increase the more Abbey-Lubbers that is persons exempted from contributing in any kind to the uses of a State either in War or Peace and yet maintain'd as drones on others sweat and labours The more it encreases the more will Caelibate or single life prevail the more Daughters will be sent to Nunneries abroad till they can be fix'd at home the more men will turn Priests and Friers and so less people in the Nation which already has too few And that the numbers in those Societies may be sure to be full it is a known and customary practice to entice and spirit away Children from their Parents into their Covents from whence they cannot be withdrawn without Sacriledge Of this abuse complaint was made long ago in behalf of the English Nation to the Pope by Rich. Fitz-Ralph called Armachanus Anno 1360 though without redress Lay men says he refrain from sending their Sons to the Vniversities fearing to have them taken away from them chusing rather to keep their Sons at home and breed them to Husbandry than to lose them by sending them to the Schools In my time there were thirty thousand Students in Oxford and now there are not six thousand and the great cause of this decrease in numbers is the aforesaid circumventing of Youth To this Accusation William Widford a begging Frier makes answer in his Apology for his Order by undertaking to prove That it is very lawful to entice Children into their Covents without their Parents consent Since the Reformation what Arts have been used to People the Seminaries abroad is a thing too notorious to need an account if any desire satisfaction therein he may have it from Mr. Wadworths English Spanish Pilgrim By this engaging of the Youth in Monasteries and Nunneries there will be as many more idle hands so by the more Holy-days which will be kept there will be the less work done consequently what is done will be so much the dearer an ill expedient for promoting of Trade for four days work must perhaps maintain a man and his Family seven The more Popery encreases the less Flesh will be eaten a third part of the year being one way or other Fasting days besides particular Penances as good an expedient for Rents as the former was for Trade To salve this I expect the Papists should tell us that great numbers of Forreiners of that Religion will come and live among us and supply by their numbers the other inconveniences but the English Artificers and Merchants are already sensible of the mischiefs which those interloping Strangers which are here already do among us and desire no new Colonies Besides 't is obvious to any common understanding that if the admission of Popery bring in Forreigners the discouragement of Protestancy will in greater and more disadvantageous proportions drive out Natives and though it be not certain who will gain by the change 't is manifest that the true English Interest will be a loser by it 9. But to proceed Popery will bring in to private persons a vast expence in Masses Diriges Mortuaries Penances Commutations Pilgrimages Indulgences Tenths First Fruits Appeals Investitures Palls Peter-Pence Provisions Exemptions Collations Devolutions Revocations Unions Commendams Tolerations Pardons Jubilees c. paid to Priests the Pope and his Officers which upon computation amounted to three Millions per annum a great part thereof carried out of the Kingdom in a time when the Indies had not fill'd it with Gold and Silver The tyranny was so intolerable that the whole Nation protested against it in their Letter to the Council of Lyons Anno 1245. wherein among other things they declare that the Italians received hence yearly above sixty thousand Marks besides all other payments to the See of Rome and carried out of the Kingdom a greater revenue than had the King who was Tutor to the Church and was to support the charge of the State Which complaint yet had no other answer than delays and a severe example to terrifie them immediately made upon the Emperour Frederick the