of these Monarks that since Cardinal Richelieux Ministry nothing hath been omitted to make it fully succeed For this purpose all the Bishops in every Diocess have had order to give Instructions to all the Parish Priests to hold an actual eye on all solid means to proceed unto this destruction and the Governours Counsellours and Intendents of the Provinces as well as all the Officers of Justice have had like order to concur with the Solicitations of those Bishops wherefore we need not admire at the Tribulation which these poor miserables do suffer for it is from these fomentations that we see dayly in all parts of that Kingdom Children rebel against their Parents Wives against their Husbands Vassals and Subjects against their Lords Houshold Servants against their Masters for what ever injury or violence is committed in these sorts of Rebellions he that embraceth the Religion of his Prince hath always reason on his side and he that persists in the Protestant Faith hath always wrong So that as it is very hard in a House to regulate every thing so well that there should not naturally arrive some accident betwixt the said Parties these Emissaries never loose any occasion directly or indirectly to bring about such Contests to kindle the fire more strongly and thence the heat more fiercely and if this succeeds to insinuate their Poyson Hereby it may appear what bitter potions the most happy and wise of the Reformed in Popish Dominions are forced to swallow More than two thirds of their Temples have been demolished within these ten years more than half their Colledges supprest No Protestant can have the least place in the Offices nor Troops of the King's Houshold and if in the common Troops persons of the highest merit rise to the place of a Lieutenant Colonel it is rarely seen that they pass farther What hath befallen the Mareschal Schomberg is not an Argument to prove that the French Protestants that deserve well may rise thither he is at present that Phenix which appears but once in an Age. But if any Protestant be so unhappy as to have any Suit against any Roman Catholick he may assure himself how little dubious soever his Cause is his Affair is lost If two Protestants have any Suits he that Apostotizeth is sure to carry it against him that persists in his Faith who shall never fail to loose his Cause But all this abovesaid is nothing at all to that which was provided for them if the Invasion of Holland had succeeded for warrant whereof I can alledge one of the most Heroick Princes of all Europe who read himself the Declaration ready provided and who thereupon was struck with an Horrour and spoke immediatly with liberty his thoughts upon that point to considerable Persons but the ill success of that Irruption and some other Respects have caused that Monster for the present to be laid up in due darkness First of all the King declared himself by this goodly Declaration Tutor of all the Infant Pupils of Protestant Fathers and so condemned all those poor unhappy Creatures to be sacrificed to the adoration of Idols In the second place all the Temples and Colledges of all the Royal or Episcopal Cities or places belonging to Catholick Lords were suppressed throughout all France In regard that by the Edict of Nantes every Lord having right of Fee-simple might have at his House the Exercise of Religion more or less extended according to the nature of his Fee by this Declaration it was expounded not to extend to any places but those which at the time of that Edict did belong to Protestant Lords now for that many Lords had since changed their Religion and the greater part of the Lands had by a natural vicissitude of things changed Masters thence it would have followed that no exercise of Religion in those Fees would have been preserved in that Kingdom though it be those only that so many as they be have in the furious overthrows of Protestant Temples made the Exercises of Religion to subsist abroad in the Country In the fourth place all the Chambers of the Edict or Miparties were by this Infamous Declaration suppressed and all the Mipartiâ—â— Mayoralties which were established in former times in favour of those of the R. Religion And to complete their misery by the same Declaration all Children born in Marriages not blest by the Priests of the Roman Communion after the publication of that Declaration were declared uncapable to succeed their Fathers and their Mothers in their Goods and Possessions Note that by a former Declaration all the Protestants in France who had received a blessing on their Marriage by the hands of a Priest of the Roman Communion with Abjuration in case they returned to communicate in the Exercises of the Protestant Religion wherein they were born were declared Relaps'd and their Goods Confiscate I forbear to set down here some other Articles not so considerable as the former which yet were no less unjust nor malicious the reading of the preceding seem sufficient to me whereby the more sound Party of the Protestants of Europe may examine as I do with all my heart intreat them the pernicious fare which the Papal Council had prepared for the Protestants of Holland at that very time wherein they pretended to make them submit unto the Dominion Protection or Discretion of France and that England and Sweden in particular may see the surprize which the Court of Rome by the Channel of France's Ministers had provided for them and the Iniquity of the Cause they have put themselves into a condition of protecting in authorizing the Irruptions Burnings and ambitious Enterprizes of France on the Low-Country Provinces and the Empire And all these States and all the People of their Dominions being instructed in their Interests which engaged them to sustain the cause of the Re-establishment of Liberty in France both Temporal and Spiritual which as to the second Head consists in the common cause of their Brethren in this Estate all these Benefits cannot be effected but by a positive Union of their good will and Forces I leave them to consider whether I had ground to insinuate this with all my power praying the good God with all the ardour of my soul that he would inspire into this Illustrious Body Sentiments and Resolutions of Piety and Glory such as a Cause so solid so just and so holy requires I finish the first part of my Discourse reserving my self to press home this matter more strongly assaying in good earnest to open the eyes of the Protestant Body in Europe to make them sensibly apprehend what they are to expect from their Enemies and what they are in condition to do by the Forces which God's providence hath put in their hand not only to deliver themselves from all these Judicious Apprehensions but also to become the indisputable Arbiters of the Fortunes of their Friends and Enemies PART II. The Error of Estate made by many Potentates
in the Business of the Reduction of Rochelle the Consequences whereof have been the cause of most considerable Conversions of Estate Wars and Disorders of Europe which we have seen since that time CArdinal of Richelieu who without doubt was the greatest Person and Minister of State that France hath of many years produced or which it may be it shall have hereafter for a long time was he who first laid the Axe to the foot and roots of the Imperial Family of Austria and having in an admirable manner pierced into the knowledge of that wherein the true Interest of France might consist to raise the glory of its Kings to the highest degree of all greatness he knew also to adhere only to essential Maxims whence so glorious a Work ought to be commenced And this is so true that we may positively conclude as a most certain thing that whatever Mazarin hath executed since and whatever Messieurs Le Tellier Colbert Louvois and de Pompone have since performed in our days for the Grandeur and exaltation of their Monarch are no other than the fruits of the Heroick Labours of that great Minister and the Execution of the Memoires and secret Instructions of his Ministery it being certain that so far as they have not departed therefrom their Glory and Success have been inseperably united to the greater part of their Expeditions and so far as they have departed from them their Enterprises have many times been attended with loss of Glory to their Master these are things which we observe sometimes by the way whilst we confine our selves to the pursuit of our Observations and Remarks upon some Errors of Estate in the Ministry of France but our design at present is to begin to observe for our private satisfaction that Point alone for the Reduction of Rochelle a Capital quid pro quo of Estate of the most part of the Potentates of Europe who might have hindered it if they on that occasion had known their true Interest and the excellent Conduct of that great Minister at the same time And first of all we will apply our selves only to observe what is but too well known I mean the misadventures which have successively fallen out in Europe to the prejudice of the most powerful Estates therein by this Reduction only and those greater which are ready to befall them if some part of them redress it not The Siege of Rochelle being settled about it the Town was but weakly relieved by the English so that we may affirm that their last expedition which seemed to be set out for that purpose after the death of Buckingham was rather a succour of show and appearance than reality if it might not be said rather that the good King then could not do all he would for their Relief Holland blind to their enemies own true Interest upon this occasion lent their Maritime Forces to advance this Reduction Spain who ought more than any other Potentate to have known and apprehended the consequences thereof thought it better to give credence to its pretended Council of Conscience then to great Spinola who having personally visited Rochelle in the conjunctures of the Siege and perceived the Infallibility of its Reduction unless speedily relieved for it was he that gave that advice to the Cardinal to shut it out from the Sea the Infallible means of its Reduction and repented thereof too late he prophesied punctually at the Council at Madrid all the misadventures which befel them and followed upon this Reduction to the prejudice of the greatness of the Austrian Family All the Roman Catholick Party of France made it so strong a Point of Religion to contribute what lay in them to this Reduction that we may say of them as sometimes the deceased and very wise Marshal of Bassompiere They were great fools who gave themselves no repose until by the sacrifice of their goods blood and lives they had effected it Let us now examine apart in a few words that which consequently did happen upon this Error of Estate to the Imperial House of Austria to Holland and France it self I speak of State Affairs and also by the consequences thereof to the greater part of the rest of Europe For England we need only take a small tast of the Travels and Addresses of the late Monsieur President de Thou Embassadour of France in England to understand that upon the King of England's failing to succour Rochelle was the foundation whereon that insinuation was advanced into the spirits of the People of that Kingdom that his late Majesty of Great Britain had in secret by the perswasion of Henrietta de Bourbon his Wife embraced the Roman Religion and that his designs tended to nothing more then to procure the destruction of the Protestant Religion in England as well as in France if it could possibly be done which supposition though doubtlesly false against that pious and learned Prince yet it was ocasioned by that unhappy slackness of supplies for the relief of Rochelle we may say that it was upon this foundation that France by the means of the said Lord Thou gave life to the universal revolt of all England and to that unfortunate Catastrophe which all Europe have beheld with horrour and astonishment and this is the very truth that the departed Monsieur de Thou who was not a Person that would speak untruth did affirm before his death to several of his Confidents of which some are yet alive that he protested that he died with sore regret that he had intermedled with that unfortunate Affair As for the most Illustrious Family of Austria in examining what hath befallen it on these two Heads since that fatal Reddition First with respect to the Imperialists the King of Denmark the Elector of Saxony the Elector Palatine of the Rhine the Princes of Transylvania and all their Confederates being humbled or destroyed we may truly say it was in a condition to do what it could reasonably desire in Germany but by the Consequence of that Reduction France was in condition to send its Aids abroad and to make Alliances and having in consequence thereof subscribed to the Swedish League it is easie to see what after the Great Gustavus did set foot in the Empire did happen through the whole extent thereof to the prejudice of this Illustrious House till the Peace of Munster and Osnaburg The eight Electorate Brisac and Philipsburg with all the Conquests of the Swede in the Empire and the enfeebling the Body of the German Church for the Recompences made to the Elector of Brandenburg and Prince of Meckleburg are the living Monuments of the failures on that side For Spain we may say that till the Reduction of Rochelle it was not always triumphant but it had thitherto supported the weight of its greatness with glory and was in an Estate to make all them to fear it who did not love it till then Flanders Italy and Germany beheld a numerous Armies on their side the
People and the true Protector of the Liberty of his Country who had Power to deal as an Arbitrator betwixt the King and his People and to regulate and decide all their differences and in truth the ancient Kings of France were no other to speak properly than the chief Captains General of their Realm and in the Palatine resided the Principal charges of the Estate as the Chancellour Constable and Admiral and it is very true that in this manner the Authority was very well parted betwixt the King and his People who were represented as for this last regard by the Palatine but Hugh Capet knowing very well by the consequence of what he and Pepin had done that the same Palatines might one day act the very same against their Successours he with dexterity suppressed the Office of the Palatine and annexed it unto the Royalty see here the manner wherein appears the first means whereby the liberty of Estate in France hath subsisted during the two first Races of its Kings suppressed and abolished by a Palatine himself in whose Person the third Race of those very Kings did commence whose Successours have reigned in a continued Succession unto this day But as Hugh Capet could not come to this Crown but with the satisfaction of all the Principal Members and especially those of his own degree this was the cause that the evil consequences which would have arisen from the Office of Palatine were not perceived nor redressed as the interest of State without doubt required and that he might take away all resentments thereof Hugh Capet being too subtle and refined a Politician to leave any suspicion in his peoples minds he made use of this contrivance to substitute the Sessions of the States General of the Kingdom under the name of Parliaments of which we find very little mention during the Reign of the Kings of the two first Races for in as much as the Deputies of the three Estates compose this Assembly it may seem at first view that Hugh Capet had not suppressed the Office of Palatine for other purpose then to diffuse all the Authority of this Eminent Charge upon the particular Members of the said Assembly but these good souls did not reflect that the Office of Palatine was perpetual and that the Session of the Parliament was only then held when the King had a fancy to assemble them albeit it is true that the States General of France if they were in possession would understand it otherwise notwithstanding by the consequence we may understand how dangerous it is to change under what pretence soever the Fundamental Laws of Estate let the appearances be never so specious that the same advantage is retained it being certain that they who have the courage or dexterity to modulize or conquer Sovereign Estates know better than any other by what Maxims their Successours may be enabled to maintain themselves therein for when the French first conquered the Gauls they chose a King out of the number of their Generals they also wisely devised as I touched above all that might hinder their Kings from ever becoming Tyrants Now in the Estates Generals or Parliaments consisted the second means whereby the publick Liberty in France did subsist so long as their Sessions were frequent but in process of time Lewis the Ninth having reunited the greatest part of the particular Principalities which were in France unto the Crown Charles the Eighth having accomplished that great Work by his Marriage with Anne the Heiress of the Dukedome of Britain these Princes believing and finding themselves above all accidents the assembling of the Estates General of the Kingdom hath been so long discontinued that at length all use of it hath been as it were quite lost and thereby the second means of maintaining the liberty of France through the whole extent thereof is vanished and dissipated as the former then the publick liberty was in a pitiful Estate until such time as the Reformation began to get footing in France for as the Reformation of Luther was doubtless the means of saving the German liberty so the Reformation of Calvin in France did not help a little to revive the dying liberty of that Estate Now by the following cruel and bloody persecutions wherewith the reformed were thereupon pursued in France the Head of that Party being inclosed in Rochelle and from thence giving life to the rest of the Party through the whole Extent of France it may be truly said that Rochelle in the defect of Palatines and General Assemblies with the rest of its Party did little less in France then what a pit or excellent Cistern of pure water doth in a dry and parched place in the times of greatest heat for the use of water being of an indispensable necessity for the service of life and these dry places in the most ardent heat being destitute of Fountains or Rivers as in the defect of these natural means we think our selves happy in the comfort of Cisterns though they be means extraordinary so of the like nature was the subsistence of the Protestant Party in France for the Palatines and Sessions of the States General in France by their total or tacite suppression being not able to sustain any longer the liberty of the State Rochelle and its Partisans as an extraordinary means so long as it subsisted did in one manner or other maintain this accidental Liberty which hath entirely disappeared since the reddition thereof so that at this day all France is wholly fallen into a domination purely despotick and to speak the truth being a Body sick of ill humours which subsisted by one only sort of nourishment and wholly excluded from it its death by consequent is inevitable As to the tacite interest which the greater part of other Powers of Europe might have had to oppose themselves against this rendition with as much vigour as Spain England Holland and France it self ought to have done if they had followed their true Interest for this they need only in the first place see into what Estate all the Potentates of Europe would have been reduced if the irruption into Holland had succeeded and if the Sovereign Lord of all things had not taken away their light and spirit from the Ministers of France after they had taken Utrich and Narden to make themselves Masters of the Town of Amsterdam which might have been done for some days more easily than the Commonwealth of the United Provinces could by means of this place alone preserved have recovered unto it self in a small time the possession of the greatest part of their conquered Estate In the second place we must examine what by the loss of the Liberty of the People of France this Monarch disposing absolutely as I have said before of the wealth and industry of all his Subjects is able to do and execute against all his Neighbours with relation thereto against all the Potentates of Christendom and by this Reflection all the Powers concerned to deliver
themselves from such apprehensions may see how much it imports them to redress such an Evil as this cannot be done without bringing about an Establishment of the liberty of Estate in France and that re-establishment cannot probably be effected without restoring life to the Protestant Party of France and being that Party cannot re-establish it self without Puissant Forreign Aid all these Powers interessed in this re-establishment may see that if so terrible a quid pro quo of Estate have been rendred them for suffering the Protestant Party to be subdued by the Rendition of the Town of Rochelle they shall make it altogether irreparable if before they dissolve their Confederacy and put off their Arms they hearken to any Propositions of Peace until they have by Succours and real encouragements brought about so desirable a re-establishment for without this Foundation neither Peace nor Precautions can be found which may possibly deliver the Christian World from the apprehension of changing as to the greatest part of it the State and face both temporal and spiritual wherewith I conclude my small Observations concerning the aforesaid Error of State Though in these Observations nothing was said of the Lords Bishops and Clergy of France nor of their great and absolute Master the Pope yet it will be very easie from the Principles here laid down compared with the Attempts this King of France hath made for reforming his Subjects into a neutral Religion contained in the following Articles to evince that the Pope and Clergy both of France and other Neighbour Countries as much as they hate the Calvinists can hope for no other than a mongril and precarious Religion Discipline and arbitrary maintenance and tolleration from the Kings of France if once the Reformed Religion were expelled out of his Dominions besides that if any one King of France should at any time change his Faith or this King pursue his intended Reformation and re-union their utter ruine must thereon necessarily ensue And it was for this reason the present Pope did herein imitate the wise Counsel of his Predecessors and did enter the League with this present Emperour the King of Spain and other Catholick and Protestant Princes against the Kings of France and Sweden to procure the liberty of France as he did with the King of France against Charles the Fifth Emperour and King of Spaine for the liberty of Germany remembring how unkindly his Catholick Majesty detained his Holiness in captivity and what Reformations he designed and had certainly made had his design taken effect in Germany a Body though greater yet not so united as this of France The Articles of a New French Reformed Religion follow 1. A Confession of Faith shall be drawn up in general terms which shall comprehend the Faith professed by both Religions without touching at all upon these Points in which they are not agreed 2. There shall be no Disputes about controverted perswasions and the Preachers shall be forbidden to preach pro or con and the reading of the School-Divines shall be prohibited in the Schools 3. There shall be a Patriarch created who shall depend on the King alone who shall not be married nor the Bishops 4. The Patriarch shall dispence with vowes and degrees of Consanguinity and shall be Head of all the Clergy 5. The Archbishops and Bishops shall be chosen by the Clergy of their Respective Diocesses who shall name three Venerable and Learned Persons of the Age of thirty years at least of which the King shall choose one 6. In like manner Benefices shall not be any more resigned but they shall be all in the King's nomination except the Rectors and Parish Priests who shall be chosen by their Chapters together with the Parish Priests and those of the Cathedrals or chief encorporated Churches of each City where they inhabit the Bishop or his Vicar being President and the Prebendaries shall be fitted with learned and pious men of the Age of thirty years at least whereof some shall be Preachers and Professors of Divinity to the intent that they may instruct the Youth others shall visit the Diocess and have inspection over their manners their Revenues shall be distributed according to the first intention 7. There shall be an University established in every Bishoprick which shall be furnished with the best learned Professors that can be found which may be composed partly of the Clergy and Canons and shall be only a School 8. A Seminary shall also be established in every Bishoprick on the same Foundation to instruct those that are Candidates of the Priesthood if it be not found more convenient to imploy the Canons therein according to their first Institution 9. The Parochial Priests alone of all the Clergy may marry and shall not be received without first undergoing a Severe Examination of their Capacity and shall be obliged to make a Sermon or Exhortation of half an hour at least every Lords day 10. The Ministers shall be provided of Cures in the places of their Residence and where they cannot be provided they shall part the Service with the Curates of the Place and shall be in the mean time provided on the place with wages as formerly and some of them shall also be imployed in the Universities and Schools of Divinity according to their Abilities and to take away all doubts from the Scrupulous they shall be obliged to assist every Lord's day in the Service of the Parish and to communicate on yearly Festivals by the hands of such as shall be in Orders 11. The one half of the Cloisters shall be suppressed and none of the Female Sex shall be suffered to make a Vow unless they be above thirty years of Age. 12. The Liturgy shall be reformed and put into an Intelligible Language whereunto extraordinary Prayers may be added according to occasion and the Curates and Preachers may also make prayers of their own Invention in the beginning and at the end of their Exhortations The Vespers or Evening Prayers shall be composed of Hymns and Psalms in French and some part only of ancient use shall be retained in another Language 13. A good part also of the less needful Ceremonies shall be reformed as Torches at Funerals part of the Canonizations Procession and Pilgrimages and the Postures of the Priest at the Altar and the Spirits of the People shall be taken off as much as can be from the Exteriour of Religion 14. Images shall be taken out of Churches 15. The Communion shall be delivered to the People on their knees before the Host in both kinds 16. Confession shall be made before the Communion and the Communion shall be administred only on the Lord's days 17. Every one shall be obliged to Communicate once every year in his own Parish Church on pain of Excommunication the first and second time and Banishment the third 18. No man shall be obliged to fall on his knees before the Host save only at the Communion 19. Confession shall not be so frequent and none other save the Curates and Ancient Preachers shall take Confessions 20. Baptism and the Eucharist shall be the greater Sacraments Confirmation shall be a consequent of Baptism or an Examen in order to the Communion and shall be administred by the Canons or Parochial Priests the extreme Unction shall be a Sacrament Orders and Marriage shall be administred by those who have right to Confess Penance shall be a necessary Work which the Bishops Curates and Confessors shall appoint unto Sinners according to the greatness of their Crimes and when the Scandal is publick the Penance shall also be publick but with Moderation and Discretion 21. The Festivals shall continue but shall not be observed with the same exactness as the Lord's day 22. Lent and the Fasting-days shall be observed but there may be exception made of all the Lord's days in Lent the Saturdays of all the year and all the Vigils 23. The Saints shall be honoured but without invoking them directly and all Prayers shall be directed to God alone 24. Pardons and Indulgences shall be reformed and endeavours shall be used to instruct the People as much as possible to make them apprehend that they ought to ground the Remission of their sins on the blood of Christ All this and what else they can agree on shall be approved by an Assembly General which shall be composed of the most learned Divines of the one and the other Religion and they shall prepare the Confession which is spoken of above But herein is the difficulty that the greater part of the Catholicks fancy that is too loose and they of the Reformed Religion think it too little and are afraid they shall be deceived in what is promised them These Articles were testified and made notoriously known through all France by those to whom they were addressed by him who was sent by the King to sollicite the Re-union a Reformade of the King's Guards Bacary by name and Nephew as he saith of the deceased Mr. Gauches Minister at Charenton His Warrant from the King was in these Words The Bearer of this Paper having order to make some Propositions on my part to the Ministers of the Pretended Reformed Religion they may Confide in whatsoever he shall say unto them and perswade them that it is not my intent to do any thing against the Edicts and Declarations I have made at Ath. June 18. 1671. LEWIS His Certificate all written in Marshal Turenne's own hand hath these Words You may give entire Credit to him who shews you this Paper and to what he saith having order from the King to tell you that he will perform all the things which he shall promise you and that this comes in the behalf of his Majesty TURENNE The Bearer of this Paper tells the Ministers to whom he applies himself that 4â— Bishops have promised the King that for the advantage of the Re-union they will cut off the Adoration of Images Invocation of Saints Purgatory Prayers for the Dead that they will establish the Service in the Vulgar Tongue Communion in both kinds and that for the real presence the Divines on both Sides shall accord thereon and that if the Pope oppose himself he shall be removed and a Patriarch established in France These are the Reformado's own Words FINIS