THE HISTORY OF Popedom Containing the RISE PROGRESS AND DECAY Thereof c. Written in High Dutch BY SAMUEL PUFFENDORFF Translated into English by J. C. LONDON Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh at the Golden Ball over against the Royal Exchange 1691. Imprimatur C. Alston October 2 d. 1690. To the Right Reverend Father in God HENRY Lord Bishop of LONDON Dean of the Chappel Royal and one of the Lords of His Majesties most Honorable Privy Council This TREATISE is most humbly Dedicated By John Chamberlayne CONTENTS Paragraph 1. POlitic Reflections on the Spiritual Monarchy of the Pope Par. 2. Of the Blindness of the Heathens in Matters of Divinity what they proposed to themselves by choosing the Paths of Virtue wherein their Religion consisted Par. 3. Of the Jewish Religion why other Nations did not embrace the Religion of the Jews Par. 4. That the Christian Religion is adapted to the humours of all People that it admits no Respect of Persons that it is not contrary to Civil Government that there is no other sort of Religion or Philosophy that can equal it why many of our Christians live like Heathens Par. 5. Of the External Government of Religion what is here to be understood by the External Government of the Christian Religion of the Ministry of the Church of the calling of the Apostles Par. 6. The Division of this Question that this necessity does not proceed from the nature of every Religion in general how the External Government of Religion was transmitted from the Fathers of the Family to the Sovereigns of each State Par. 7. That it is not inconsistent with the Christian Religion for the Sovereign to have the direction of it as to its External Government Par. 8. The First Progress of the Christian Religion the Divine Conduct in the Establishment of this Religion how the Jesuits Preach the Gospel to the Chineses why God called the Ignorant rather than the Wise and Learned Men. Par. 9. The Persecution of the Primitive Church the New Christians Slandered and Calumniated the Romans upon Reasons of State oppose their Religion the Roman Persecution condemn'd Par. 10. Of the Ancient Government of the Christian Religion Differences arising about Religion Terminated by Assemblies why the Authority of these Assemblies ought to be permitted under Heathen Emperours Par. 11. That the External Government of the Church by being lodged in the hands of the Primitive Christians has produced strange disorders that from hence some have supposed two Powers in the State that Ecclesiastics ought to receive their Call from the Sovereign of each State Par. 12. That it was not in Constantin's Power wholly to change the State of the Church how the Bishops and other the Ecclesiastics came to Vsurp the Sovereign Power that the Sovereign may preside in the Assemblies where Controversies are treated of the abuse of Councils Par. 13. The Jurisdiction of Bishops abused other Abuses concerning Marriages Ecclesiastical Discipline abused the Popes misuse the Power of Excommunication Par. 14. The Rise of the Popes Authority that Ignorance and the Barbarity of the Age contributed much thereto the causes of this Ignorance that ignorance help'd much to the Establishing of the Popedom the Introduction of Pedantry into the Schools that the Politiques of the Greeks and Romans were contrary to Monarchy two dangerous effects of the ignorance of Politiques Par. 15. Why the Monarch of the Romish Church has chosen Rome for the place of his Residence how the Pope Establish'd his Hierarchy of the Metropolitan Bishops how the Bishops of RomeVsurp'd the Preheminence Reflections on the Popes Power Par. 16. How the Pope came to Domineer o'er all the Western Part of the World of the Confirmation of Bishops by the Pope Decisions of the Pope Dispensations of the Popes Vicar in France of the Monk Winifred the Pope makes him his Vicar he advances the Grandeur of the Popes of the Annates the Popes annul the Decisions of Provincial Synods they force the Bishops to swear Fidelity to them Par. 17. The Riches of the Church and how first gotten the Avarice of the Church-men and divers effects thereof the Institution of the Crusado a stratagem of Popes Par. 18. Of the great number of Ecclesiastics the Original of Monks and other Religious Orders of the Multitude of Monasteries of the Order of Begging Friars why they chose that sort of Life the Reasons that induce men now adays to choose a Monastic Life that Monks have been very prejudicial to other Church-men that they alone hinder the Bishops from opposing the Pope 's Authority that a great many Bishops would be glad to shake off the Yoke of Rome that it is the Interest of Bishops to submit to the Pope Par. 19. How the Church has shaken off all Temporal Jurisdiction how the Bishops of Rome slipt their Neck out of the Emperours Collar Par. 20. The Pope implores the French Kings Protection against the Lumbards the French enter Italy they bestow the Exarchat on the Pope that the Popes did heretofore hold those Countries under them of the Emperour Par. 21. The Popes Establish an Ecclesiastical Sovereignty Pope Gregory Excommunicates the Emperour Henry the Fourth the Pope endeavours to Domineer o'er the Emperour a quarrel between the King of England and his Bishops that succeeding Emperours have in vain endeavoured to regain their lost Authority Par 22. The Pope exalts himself above all Temporal Powers the use he made of his Excommunicating Power how the Pope colour'd his usurpations the Pope takes upon him the cognisance of Matrimonial Affairs that the Pope allur'd the most knowing Men into his service the unbounded Ambition of Pope Boniface the Eighth Par. 23. The Popes find their Authority oppos'd that the great Schisms in the Church have much weakened their Authority the first Schism the second Schism the third Schism the fourth and last Schism that the Pope has not been able to Lord it over Councils the Confession of several Popes concerning the Authority of Councils that Popes have been Depos'd by Councils Par. 24. The removal of the Popes Seat from Rome to Avignon that it was prejudicial to the Pope 's Authority the Pope reduces to his Obedience the City of Rome the History of Caesar Borgia natural Son of Alexander the Sixth the Ecclesiastical State reunited to the Popedom Par. 25. That the Papal Authority receiv'd a terrible blow by the Doctrine of Luther the Virtues and Vices of Leon the Tenth of Indulgences Luther Preaches against them and against the Power of the Pope Par. 26. That Luther's opposition met with a seasonable juncture of the times the miserable State of Christendom at that time the ignorance of Luther's adversaries Erasmus favours Luther that his silence alone was very prejudicial to Luther's adversaries that the Princes of Germany were unsatisfied with the Pope why Charles the Fifth was willing that Luther's Doctrine should make some progress the Popes ill conduct in the Business of Luther the imprudence of Cardinal Cajetan
no man by submitting himself to any Civil Government does renounce the Care of his Body and Soul For otherwise if it had pleas'd God to have begun the propagation of his Religion from the Conversion of Kings and Emperors without doubt they would have seconded by their Edicts the Preaching of the Apostles abolish'd the Temples of their Heathenish Gods prohibited the Exercise of Paganism and by the Apostles Advice they would have assum'd and manag'd the external Direction of Religious Affairs and forever afterward have reserv'd it in their own hands as we find it put in practice in some Countries where the Christian Religion was first embraced by the Princes thereof Sect. 11. In the mean while the external Government and Disposition of Holy Things by the negligence of the Civil Magistrate being devolv'd upon the Primitive Christians was found too late to be of a very dangerous Consequence for from hence some have pretended to infer that the Election of fit Ministers and the Management of Church-Affairs does naturally and originally belong to the common People as they are understood in opposition to their Soveraign or Rulers 'T is true one ought not to force upon the vulgar a Minister whom they extreamly dislike especially if they have any probable reason of their aversion against him for such a man with all the Preaching in the World can never Edify his unwilling Auditors yet it does not follow from hence that the Mob have any original right thereto because they once enjoy'd it by provision whilest the Soveraign omitted the performance of his Duty and Function herein For otherwise it would have been as little in their Power to call and appoint Ministers in their Churches as it ever was to dispose of Civil Offices and Employs in the State Therefore if it happens that in this Country or another the common People have any Right or Privilege therein 't is to be understood that they enjoy it by the permission and connivence of their Soveraign whom we presuppose to be an Orthodox Christian There are some also who would from hence conclude That the external Government of the Church must necessarily be consider'd as something separate and distinct from the Supreme Civil Government and therefore ought to be Soveraignly Administred by the united Body of the Clergy or by some one chose from amongst them and that so in every Christian State there must needs be two Different and Independent Bodies of which one was be named the Body Politick and t'other the Body Ecclesiastick and both Soveraign and Independent of each other But this is absolutely false and it is most certain that that Power and Authority which was provisionally usurp'd by the People when that negligence of the Prince by which it was forfeited ceases does justly devolve again upon the lawful Soveraign nor does it follow that the Power which the Apostles had in the establishing the Church can be challeng'd by the Ministers of the Church now established for the Apostolary Function was something particular and different from the ordinary Church-Ministery as this is from the external Direction of the Church and therefore as one that is chosen for a Minister is not strait an Apostle so neither does a King in assuming the Government and Protection of the Church immediately become a Priest thereof Now tho' the Christian Religion is originally Divine and therefore not to be comprehended by weak Humane Intellects yet that does not hinder the King or whosoever is Supreme from the Direction and Administration thereof provided that he make use of the Counsel and Assistance of those men who are best vers'd in such Affairs From what has been now said we may likewise draw this conclusion that we are not oblig'd precisely to follow the Praxis of the Primitive Churches in relation to the external Direction of the Church or to observe it as a general Rule for Church-Government in those States where the Soveraign is an Orthodox Christian For that Praxis is wholly founded on the Circumstances of those times which can have no place in those States where both the Supreme Magistrates and the Common People are united in one Faith Why therefore should we make a Schism in the State when there is none in the Religion Sect. 12. Now tho' by the conversion of Constantine the Great to the Christian Religion the Church assum'd a New Form for as much as the Soveraign was then capable of Administring the Function of external Governour of the Church yet this could not be done so easily or commodiously as if the Soveraign had always from the beginning been Head of the Christian Church but there remain'd so many Relicks of the preceeding Provisional-Government that they afterwards occasion'd innumerable errours and abuses in the Western or Latin Churches Besides the People could not be brought to consent that the Emperours whom they as then look'd upon to be meer Novices in Matters of Religion should immediately acquire the Supreme Direction of Ecclesiastick Affairs in prejudice of the Bishops and Clergy who could not see themselves without a great deal of unwillingness and regret dispoil'd of so considerable an Authority Whereas the Emperours on the contrary their Subjects being mostly Christians were forced to depend on their Priests and caress them continually if they desir'd to have their Throne settled and themselves secure from falling To which Reason we may add That the first Christian Emperours having as yet in their Service a great many Heathenish Officers it was not reasonable that the Government of the Church and the Affairs thereof should be taken into consideration or deliberated of in the Imperial Councils where Pagans were always present From thence it came that in the Institution of Bishops and other Ecclesiasticks the customs and manners introduced in the times of the Heathen Emperours were generally observ'd and that not only the decision of Controversies in Matters of Faith but also all Laws serving to the external Direction and Government of the Church as also all other Differences arising amongst the Chiefest of the Clergy were deliberated of in Synods and General Assemblies where the Prelates pretended that they alone had right to Preside and give their Suffrages Whereas the right of calling Synods or other Assemblies together was the Prerogative of Soveraigns alone and in all other times did indisputably belong to them besides that that it was but reasonable that they should preside and have the Direction of such Assemblies let the matter be what it would that was there Treated of where their Consent was absolutely necessary to the ratification and passing into a Law of what was there determined 'T is true in those Conventions neither the Soveraign nor the whole Body of the Clergy have any Power or Right to form new Articles of our Belief or to interpret the Scriptures after their own Fancy but since the whole Duty of a Christian what he ought to do and what he ought to believe is contain'd in the Holy
Followers would not conform themselves in every point to his Sentiments but pretended that they had likewise something to say for themselves Hence did arise several Differences and Disputes among them which whilst there was no body whose Authority was sufficient to decide 'em and each one obstinately persisted in his Opinion quickly occasion'd Schisms amongst them and made them forgetting their Common Enemy to fall foul upon one another This gave the Papists a very fair occasion to say The Hereticks were confounded amongst themselves not knowing what they should believe and were wandring in an inextricable Labyrinth since their falling away from the Romish Church Hereto did not a little contribute those who abusing the Name of the Holy Gospel led an impious and scandalous life as if the Gospel-Freedom consisted in the abandoning themselves to all sorts of Debauchery This their ill Conduct gave occasion to the Pope's Followers to blacken the Doctrine of Luther because he had so severely reprehended the scandalous Lives of their Clergy and thereby had gain'd himself a strong Party And it was likewise a great misfortune that a very little after the preaching of Luther there sprung up great swarms of Phanaticks as the Anabaptists and such-like and that the Bores in Germany made a dangerous Insurrection all which Disturbances were by the Pope's Creatures attributed to Luther's Doctrine so that a great many Princes began to suspect it as if it were the Introducer of all sorts of Licence and Irregular Liberties amongst the Mobile which they esteem'd a greater Evil than the Oppression of the Clergy So that they oppos'd themselves with all their might against this new and seemingly seditious Doctrine of Luther Some are of opinion That the Academy of Paris had a great share herein for Luther imagining that the French Clergy were discontented with Leon the Tenth upon the account of the Pragmatick Sanction concerning the Election of their Bishops and therefore would not let slip so fair an occasion of revenging themselves on him 'T was in these Thoughts that Luther was so willing to submit to their decision his Disputes with Eckius but unfortunately for him for they condemn'd his Opinions in very rude and jocquant terms Spain too found it to be her Interest to take into her protection the Chair of Rome and therefore violently oppos'd the Protestant Religion and so vigorously supported the solemn League in France that Henry the Fourth to gain the Crown was absolutely forced to abjure his Religion Some have likewise observ'd that the advancement of the Protestant Religion was not a little retarded first by Zuinglius and afterwards by Calvin who introducing a too great and hasty Reformation as well in things relating to the external form of the Church as in the essential points of Faith fell from one extream into the other Now Luther had chang'd very few of those things to which the People had been accustomed for he left in the Church the Ornaments Bells Organs and Candlesticks and retain'd likewise the greatest part of the Mass excepting that he added thereto several Prayers in the Vulgar Tongue so that he was look'd upon by the greatest part as a Reformer only of some Abuses that had slipt into their Religion But just as it appeared that this Revolution was like to be universal Zuinglius interven'd in Switzerland and Calvin in France who instead of observing Luther's method began immediately to preach against the Presence of Christ's Body in the Eucharist abolisht entirely all sort of Ornaments and Ceremonies broke in pieces the Altars and Images extirpated all sort of Order in the Hierarchy or Government of the Church and despoil'd the Religion of all that which might serve to attract the Eyes and the external Senses Whereupon the common People conceiv'd a great aversion against them and cleav'd with much more zeal and attachment to the Religion which they received from their Ancestors The Riches of the Church did also not a little contribute to the progress of Luther's Doctrine whilst several laid hold on the opportunity of appropriating them to themselves and perhaps did no less hinder it whilest most of the great Prelates stuck fast to the Church of Rome who perhaps would have ventur'd to have shaken off the yoke if the fear of losing their fat Benefices had not kept them faithful to their Masters Interests as we see that it happen'd in France where the Prelates themselves as well as the common People before the Reformation did mightily despise the Pope's Authority but afterwards were great sticklers for the Chair of Rome and stirr'd up the peoples hatred against the new Doctrine as soon as they perceiv'd that if that prevail'd they must out Sect. 28. But after that the Pope and his Creatures were a little recover'd out of the terrible consternation so puissant an opposition had put them in and that his Adversaries began to fall out among themselves he establish'd his Affairs in a much better condition than at first and stood so vigilantly upon his Guard that the Protestants are not only incapable of doing him any more mischief but he does proceed every day to get signal advantages over them for that which Luther took an occasion to hurt him most by is now quite taken away or at least is more prudently and modestly practis'd by him si non castè saltem cautè And the Weapons which Luther us'd against the Pope are now by the same advantageously turn'd against their Master for the Popes do no longer so impudently insult over Soveraign Princes as they were wont to do but use them with much more civility and moderation 't is true in the last Century Paul the fourth did handle the Spaniards something roughly as Paul the fifth in the Age wherein we live did deal with the Venetians much after the same rate but their differences were quickly termined by a prudent mediation before the business came to be too high and the Popes have been since convinced that such heats are very prejudicial to their States as in effect Paul the fifth was immediately brought to reason when the French Ambassador made him believe that the Venetians had sent for Ministers from Geneva and that he should shortly hear they were all turn'd Protestants Besides the Papal Chair has no more been fill'd by such notorious Debauchees as Alexander the sixth or by any of so Martial and fighting an humor as Julius the second but on the contrary they endeavour to put their plots in execution with less noise and more cunning and by appearing outwardly very zealous for the peace and quiet of Christendom The scandalous Merchandizing of Indulgences and a too gross Simony is by them suspended whilest they endeavour to drain the Peoples purses by more honourable and plausible means the Bishops likewise in general are much mended and comport themselves with more modesty and gravity than they did before Luther's time and there is now to be found amongst their Clergy very Wise and
the effects thereof Luther appeals to a Council Par 27. Why Luther's Doctrine did not make greater advances a Schism among the Protestants the Protestants abuse the liberty of the Gospel of the Academy of Paris of Zwinglius and Calvin that Luther took a great many of the Romish Ceremonies that the riches of the Church have been one cause of the progress of Protestant Religion Par. 28. The Pope recovers from the fright which Luther had put him into that he now acts more cautiously than heretofore that Priests and Monks live more regularly at present of the reestablishing of Learning in the Church of Rome the ways of enticing Protestants to that Church that the House of Austria has mightily contributed to the Papal Grandeur Par. 29. Of the Temporal Dominions of the Pope of the Countries that are under his Jurisdiction of the Popes Militia of the Popes Interest in relation to Germany France and Spain that the Pope need not fear the Power of the other States in Italy Par. 30. Of the Popes Spiritual Dominions that the Pope has different Interests from those of other Princes the Foundation of the Papal Monarchy that the absolute Power of Popes can't be prov'd from Scripture nor from the example of the Apostles in General nor from that of St. Peter in particular how the Papists Answer these Objections Par. 31. Why the Sovereignty of the Roman Church could not well admit of any other Form than a Monarchical that there could not be invented a more regular Monarchy than that of the Popes why this Monarchy ought to be Elective why the Popes don't Marry of the Conclave why the Popes are generally Italians why they usually chuse an old Man for Pope why they don't chuse one of kin to the last Pope nor one that is too much devoted to the French or Spanish Interest of the Colledg of Cardinals of the Dignity of Cardinals of their Number of their Election that the Popes always endeavour to enrich their Kindred with the spoils of the Church of the Cardinal Patroon why the chief Ministers of the Pope are his Nephews Par. 32. Of the Celibacy of the Ecclesiastics of their great number the several sorts of Ecclesiastics Par. 33. That the Doctrine of the Church of Rome does very well square with the Popes Interests that it prohibits the reading the Holy Scriptures of Traditions of Venial and Mortal Sins of the Remission of Sins of Works of satisfaction of the merit of good Works of Works of Superrogation of Ceremonies and Feasts of forbidding the Cup of the Sacrament of Marriage of the forbidden Degrees of extreme Vnction of Purgatory of the Adoration of Relicks of the Invocations of Saints and of Canonisation other means that the Clergy uses to drain the Purses of ignorant People Par. 34. That Vniversities have been no small means of supporting the Papal Authority that the Professors were the Popes Creatures that the Philosophers were his Slaves of the Scholastic Divinity and Philosophy that the same Pedantry is yet in vogue Par. 35. Why Jesuits intrude themselves into the Government of Schools and Colleges the service they render thereby to the See of Rome that they have insinuated themselves into the Courts of Princes of the Censuring Books that the Romish Priests inspire their auditors with an ill opinion against Protestants of the false rumors they spread to their own advantage Par. 36. That the Excommunication of the Popes is not so terrible as it used to be Par. 37. The Reasons that oblige these People to stick to the Romish Religion that a great many of them do it for Interest others through ignorance why some of them are guilty of Atheism that there is Preferment in the Roman Church for all sort of People why the Princes of the Roman Religion do not abandon it Par. 38. Of those States whose Interest it is to maintain the Authority of the See of Rome of Italy of Poland of Portugal of Germany that Charles the Fifth neglected the occasion of making a Reformation in Germany what had probably happened if Charles had turned Protestant of Spain of France of the Formalities that the Nuncioes are oblig'd to observe in France a project of making a Patriarch in France that the Pope has an aversion for the French Monarchy of the principal support of the Popes of their conduct heretofore in respect of the Spaniards and also in respect of the French Par. 39. How the Popes stand dispos'd towards Protestants why they have favour'd them upon certain occasions Par. 40. If there are any hopes of an accommodation between the Pope and Protestants the Reasons of the Impossibility that such propositions are chimerical and dangerous of the strength of Protestants and Catholicks of the Protestant States Divisions between the Protestants other inconvenients of the Jealousie that reigns between the Protestant States of the Huguenots of France of Poland how strong the Protestants are in Germany if they are able alone to defend themselves without the aid of France and Swedeland that the security of the Protestant States does not depend on Treaties of the Sovereign States of the Protestant Religion of the means of maintaining the Protestant Religion whether the Lutherans and Reformed may be brought to any accommodation of the Socinians and Anabaptists THE HISTORY OF Popedom THE POPEDOM may be consider'd Two ways First As it's Doctrine which is singular and different from that of other Christians does fall in with the Holy Scripture and does either impede or promote the means of our Salvation the consideration thereof as 't is taken in this Sence we leave to the Divines And Secondly As the Pope does not only make a very considerable Figure amongst the rest of the Italian Princes but does also pretend to the Soveraignty of Christendom at least in all Spiritual Affairs and does in effect Exercise such a Supreme Authority over all the States of Europe that have the same Sentiments in Religion with him 'T is this second Consideration which particularly and immediately belongs to the Politicians since such a spiritual Soveraignty does not only bridle the Supreme Power of every State but is altogether absurd and inconsistent with the nature of such a Power Hence is it That Religion is so confounded and intangled with the politick Interests of Rome that he who will understand the latter must be perfectly inform'd of the Rise of that spiritual Monarchy and by what means it is Arriv'd to so prodigious a Growth and what Intrigues are used to preserve its usurped Greatness For thereby will likewise appear what relation it has with the Controversies so rife at present among the Western Christians and how far one may attribute those disagreeing Sentiments of Religion either to different Interpretations of the Scriptures or to the prospect of Temporal Interests After a strict Examination of which we will leave it to the Judgment of Wise and Impartial Men to determine whether there can be any hopes of a
Subjects of the same State And altho' among Gods People the Jews the publick Administration of Divine Service was become hereditary and tied to one certain Family yet the Soveraign inspection and care of the Priests did only belong to them who had the Soveraign Authority in the Civil Government The same thing has likewise been observ'd by almost all the other Nations Sect. 7. Nor can we perceive that such a Direction must necessarily belong to any other than the Soveraign of each State or the necessity thereof be prov'd from any Identity or particular quality of the Christian Religion as far as it does comprehend in its self something more than is suggested to us by the Light of Nature concerning the Divine Worship Whilest we always take it for granted That the Soveraign by Virtue of that external Direction neither can nor will introduce any thing contrary to God's Holy Word nor hinder the Ministers from the performance of their Office according to the Divine Precepts Besides There can no reason be given why the Supreme Powers should be incapable of ever attaining those Qualifications which are requir'd to this external Care and Direction of the Church or at least that they should not be able to commit this Direction to some of their Subjects that are beyond exception qualifi'd for such an employ After the same manner as other parts of the Soveraignty are often Administred by the Subjects So no body presumes to deprive the Soveraign of his Legislative Faculty or pretends a better Right tho' 't is certain that every Doctor and Professor of Law ought to be infinitely better vers'd therein than any King can be who as in all other Important Affairs ought also herein to make use of their Counsel and profit himself of the Fruits of their long Study and Experience For a Brave and Wise King far from making it his Interest that his Subjects should acquit themselves ill of those Offices he has entrusted 'em with may rather conformably to his Duty extract incredible Advantages from the good and faithful management of what he has committed to them For the more Diligent and Zealous he is in the Maintenance and Support of the Christian Religion the more capable his Subjects are of serving him and the more assur'd is he of God's Help and Assistance Besides caeteris paribus 't is impossible to give any Reason why God Almighty should not grant his Grace and Assistance to an Orthodox Christian King as well as to any other in the good and laudable Administration of such a Direction Lastly Whilest the Christian Religion in no other point does encroach upon the Civil Laws and Ordinances so far as they fall in with the Law of Nature we ought not to believe that it breaks its bounds in this unless we had a formal and positive assurance thereof from God himself Those therefore that will persist in the Defence of such an Absurdity are oblig'd to demonstrate where the Holy Scripture in express Terms deprives the Supreme Civil Magistrate of this Direction to bestow it on another independent and not acknowledging any Earthly Superiour In the mean while we will proceed to examine how and by what steps such a Spiritual Soveraignty has attain'd to so monstrous a Degree in the Western Churches Sect. 8. When the Apostles after our Saviour's Ascention had begun to Preach the Holy Gospel to all People being appointed thereto by their Master 's immediate Commands they did in a short time gain an incredible number of Proselytes as well amongst the Jews as Gentiles and especially of the common People then oppress'd with a miserable Ignorance and leading a wretched and beastly Life They therefore embraced this Doctrine with a great deal of Joy wherein they found unspeakable Comforts against the inconveniences and desperate Sorrows of this temporary Life Besides The Apostles being themselves of low Birth and as to outward appearance making a very inconsiderable figure found an easier Access and could better insinuate their Opinions into the minds of their equals Whereas the great Men and the most Learn'd slighted this upstart Religion in the beginning nor thought it worth their while to make any exact inquiry into the Mysteries thereof If men may presume to examine the Reasons of the Divine Wisdom and why it was pleas'd to make use of such means in the first Introduction of the Christian Religion the most probable seems to be that God forbore to make use of Power or the Authority of the Supreme Magistrate lest the Purity of the Gospel might be mistaken for a Politick Device or a Philosophical Speculation Whereas if a man compares the inconsiderable beginning with the wonderful Progress he will easily observe that there is something more than Humane in it especially considering that the most Learned among the Heathens with all their Subtilties with all their Helps of Art and Nature could but slightly and superficially penetrate into the Reason and Causes of Divine Things and that the Great Socrates amongst the rest tho' he clearly discover'd the blind Superstition and Ignorance of his Age yet had not Power enough to introduce a better but as a Reward for his good Design suffer'd Death as an Heretick and Innovator of the Establish'd Religion Whereby we are given to understand That the Wisdom of the World is but Folly with God who could perfect a work by the means of poor ignorant Fishermen which all the united Wits of the greatest Philosophers were not able to set on foot Besides The Apostles manner of acting seem'd very odd to the more rational sort of People they thought it strange to hear a Crucified Jesus the greatest Subject of their Sermons and that they should name him the Son of God and Saviour of the World who was born among a People derided and despised as the scum of the Earth and the abject of all Nations nor was this Jesus in any great Repute in the World nor had he signaliz'd himself by any Famous Heroical Actions or by a great many Years Preaching and Teaching spread his Name abroad among the People but on the contrary was cut off in the Flower of his Age by a most scandalous and shameful Death Wherefore the Jesuits in their endeavours of planting the Gospel amongst the cunning Chineses do not begin it from the Passions of Christ but do first Reason and Discourse upon Natural Religion and then after a long round about fall upon the Articles of the Christian Faith which whether they can by these devices and politick Methods better insinuate into those unbelievers than the Apostles I shall not now examine One may also add That it seem'd good to God to deliver first the most simple and the meanest of the People out of that Heathenish Blindness since they were maintain'd and kept under in a continual Superstition by the great ones who tho' they easily perceiv'd the cheat and vanity of Paganism yet with-held by their Interest and Worldly Considerations did
and pleasure The Pope has nothing to fear from the other States of Italy for though they cherish a secret hatred against him whilst a spiritual power is become very formidable to them and some of them have been shrewdly handled by him yet they are forced to respect him outwardly and dare not undertake any thing against him openly But on the contrary they will never suffer him to aggrandize himself by the Ruines of any one of them whilst that crafty Nation is very jealous of keeping the balance equal amongst them Sect. 30. But if we consider the Pope the second way that is as the spiritual Monarch of Christendom and Vicar of Jesus Christ upon Earth we shall find the whole basis of that Government so artificially and ingeniously contriv'd that a man may well say there was never a more subtile Machine invented whilst the World stood than is the POPEDOM the which to support and maintain does require so much the more Cunning and Intrigues as its Interests are different from those of all the World beside and the Title to such a pretended Soveraignty more weak and impertinent The Prospect of other States is to secure to themselves an external as well as internal Peace and Tranquility 'T is to this end that each Member of the Common-wealth does contribute as much as in him lies not sparing Limb nor Life to put themselves into a condition of resisting the Injuries and Violences of Strangers as also each particular ought to procure to himself a competent Subsistence by his proper Labour and Industry But the aims and designs of the Papal Government is that the Pope and his Clergy endeavour to make themselves rich powerful and considered in the World and to provide for their own ease and security by the Sweats of other mens Brows which they effect by all sort of allurements and plausible perswasions And whereas other States are at excessive charges in the maintaining of standing Armies and a number of Garrisons the Pope on the contrary makes his Militia subsist how great soever it be at the Expences of others and yet does serve himself thereof much more advantageously than all others Besides other Princes find it to be their Interest not to neglect the Maxim de imperio intra terminos coercendo or of not extending too far the limits of their Territories But the Pope has no reason to observe the same measures for 't would be neither dangerous nor troublesome to him though his Empire should reach both to the East and West-Indies The Right of Soveraignty is grounded upon clear and uncontroulable Reason and on the Institution of God himself so that without it it were impossible for men to lead an honourable safe and orderly Life but I am sure 't is impossible to find so plain and well-grounded a Title of the Papal Power or to prove That a Spiritual Soveraignty is as necessary to the Welfare of Christendom as Temporal Powers are to the Peace and Tranquility of Mankind And he that will not believe this Position let him only bring one solid Argument to the contrary and we will yield with admiration to the Subtleness of his Wit But if the Popish Doctors will appeal to an express and positive order of God they are oblig'd to bring clear and indisputable proofs from the Holy Scripture to demonstrate that our Saviour when he sent forth his Apostles into all Countries to preach the Gospel gave them power not only to teach all Nations preferrably to all humane prohibition which is not doubted but also without the Soveraign's Consent though he should profess the same Christian Religion to establish in the publick Ministry who and how many they themselves thought fit and afterwards to resign to them the right of augmenting their Order without number and without measure whilst no body must contradict them no not so much as he whose Right they so boldly usurped and that in consequence of these their Proceedings since those they had thus establish'd can't live by the Air like Camelions to impower them to scrape together by all sort of Tricks and Inventions not only what may be necessary for the preservation of Life but likewise to subministrate to Luxury and Superfluity and that besides all such as were resolv'd to embrace this Profession should be freed from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Magistrate as also their Goods howsoever acquir'd nay though they immediately proceeded from the Revenue of the Republick and were protected thereby were yet to be independent of the Higher Powers Nor might it be permitted them to lay any Taxes thereon to limit their immoderate Bounds or to convert them to any other use in the greatest case of necessity And that the Supreme Direction of the Affairs of this Order as well in the administration of all Offices as of their Revenues should belong to one of the same Order on whom they should absolutely depend whilst their lawful Soveraign might not pretend to a more prevalent Right although the Multitude or the Rebellion of such a Spiritual Order should tend to the ruine of the State or that it could not be saved but by the communication of their Goods unless the Director of the Order gave his Consent to it Besides all this there remains clearly to be prov'd another Hypothesis which consists in Matter of Fact as for example That Jesus Christ conferr'd on St. Peter alone the spiritual Soveraignty over the Church without the admission of any of the other Apostles into the Government and that such a Prerogative was not confin'd only to his person but that by an equal right it should eternally belong to such as should succeed him in the place whereof he was Bishop As also that St. Peter was actually Bishop of Rome did there exercise such a Soveraignty and that he did irrevocably communicate it to this place alone excluding all others where he afterwards preached Now as the proof of these Propositions is extreamly difficult the Doctors of the Romish Church ought to take care that they do not form them too accurately before their Auditors but only in general terms and to cover 'em with the Foxes Tail for 't is much more their Interest to buzz into the Peoples Ears a number of Reasons which are but little to the purpose as for example the Promises made in Scripture that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church of the Greatness and flourishing estate of the Church of its Antiquity of the Succession of the Popes of the Fathers Councils of the Authority of so many Nations and times of Wonders and such-like stuff very proper for a noisy Declamation 'T is an Expedient likewise which they have found very profitable without much Debate to brand those with the Title of Hereticks that dare to begin any Dispute with them for it is just as much as if they should term them ignorant and impertinent Novices that have not yet learn'd their Trade that don't know how to
Tributary Slaves doom'd to maintain so great a Militia at their own Expences The first are singular in this That they are obliged to abstain from Marriage which they pretend is upon the account of a more particular Holiness and that they may uninterruptedly addict themselves to the exercise of the Charge But the true reason is That they may not be embarassed with the care of Wife and Children to the prejudice of the Church's Interest or oblig'd to side with the Prince under whose Dominion they live nor cheat the Church of its Income to supply the necessities of their Families but that they may devote themselves wholly to the Pope and yield him a blind Obedience and execute his Orders against all but more especially against the Princes whose Subjects they are whose Anger they dread the less because they are not joined or united to the Republick by so streight Bands as the rest are and have but one body to take care for whereas a Wife and Children are look'd upon to be the greatest and dearest Pawns of our Fidelity but a single man can easily get his Bread in any Country In fine the Pope endeavours by all sort of waies to free them from the Dependance and Jurisdiction of their lawful Soveraigns to subject them entirely to his own The Clergy also could never have satisfy'd their Avarice with so rich a Harvest had they been oblig'd to have scrap'd up for their Wives and Children nor so fair a Pretext of begging for the Church and not for themselves But in the mean while those that first introduced Coelibacy or a single Life among the Romish Clergy were wonderfully overseen in not finding out at the same time a fit Receipt for the Gift of Continency which had been very seasonable We may guess at the multitude of the Clergy by the computation which Paul the Fourth is said to make thereof viz. That he had under his Jurisdiction Two hundred and eighty eight thousand Parishes and forty four thousand Cloisters especially if that of the Convents be just We may again divide the Clergy into those that are simply Priests and those that have made particular vows as the Monks and Jesuites which may pass for the Pope's Life Guard The pay of these Troops consists in honourable Charges great Revenues an easie Labour idle daies and a constant Kitchin but those that are kept more strict have their Heads fill'd with a particular Holiness and Merits and Advantages above the rest Sect. 33. The means which the Pope makes use of to keep the Laity in subjection are the accustoming them to a belief that he and his Ghostly Militia are the Promoters of their Salvation and the Lords of their Consciences which is the strongest Argument in the World to lead them into a perpetual Slavery and Submission to their Wills but that it may be more serviceable to their Spiritual Monarchy they have accommodated thereto some of the Articles of the Christian Religion and since made some additions of others tending to the same end So that if you take good notice of the Disputes and Contestations which they of the Romish Religion have with their Adversaries you will alwaies find some Interest mingled therewith concerning the Authority Power or Revenues of the Clergy The chiefest of these Doctrines is concerning the Power and Authority of the Pope of his Superiority over the Councils and of his Infallibility which last point the Jesuites have stretch'd as far as possible for that being once granted all the rest is an easie and natural consequence thereof But the Sentiments of the Ancient Christians with whom if I am not mistaken the Sorbon at present holds viz. That the Councils are at least equal if not above the Popes are directly opposite to the grounds of the Papal State for this Opinion once stiffly maintain'd would destroy the Monarchy and on its Ruins erect a Democracy and in effect to grant the Pope such almighty Prerogatives and yet subject him to his Creatures and Vassals are things incompatible and inconsistent with one another For that which the Holy Writings of the Fathers have attributed to the Church must be only understood of the Pope just as in ordinary Discourse we ascribe that to a whole Kingdom which is done by the King alone The reading of the Holy Scriptures is forbid the Laity and only permitted to the Clergy which does not alone contribute to the Grandeur of the Priests as if they were the only persons worthy to approach the Divine Oracles but does also more particularly hinder the Laity from finding any thing contrary to the Interests of the Clergy and becoming too wise and refusing any longer blindly to receive the Fables of their lying Priests So that the Laity not being permitted to search into Matters of Divinity nor to examin them seriously are oblig'd to referr themselves wholly to their Priests Hence is it that they appropriate to the Pope the Right of interpreting the Scriptures and of giving an absolute decision of all controverted points to the end that none may be alledg'd that are prejudicial to his Interests They give out too That the Scriptures are imperfect and therefore to be supply'd by Traditions to the end that when they would preach up any Doctrine advantageous to the Holy Chair of which there is not the least tittle to be found in the Scripture they may appeal to Tradition and so spare themselves any farther demonstration In the Doctrine of sins they have a distinction betwixt venial and mortal sins as also of particular cases and exceptions all which does only tend to the profit and advantage of the Priests and all that infinite number of Books of Confession enough to lade a whole East-India-Fleet are not writ for the amendment of sins but to the end that by the Taxes therein contain'd the Dominion of the Clergy may be confirm'd and their avarice satiated The comfortable Doctrine of the Remission of Sins is intirely accommodated to their Interest for whilst it is no advantage to the Clergy that a truly penitent sinner should obtain remission of his sins by the confidence he has in the merits of Christ alone therefore they teach that to the attainment of a full and perfect forgiveness of sins a man must reveal even the least particulars of all and every sin to the Priest whereby they do not only make the people to be at their Devotion and give them such impressions as are most conformable to their Interests but they do more particularly thereby discover all the secrets and designs of Families and the humor and inclinations of the people and by that means have the best intelligence of all that is done tho' they are forbid to reveal what is imparted to them at Confessions for without that caution of secresy they could never have been able to have establish'd a thing so contrary and so ungrateful to humane nature They promote also the works of Satisfaction according as the Father-Confessor
Princes the Elector of Bavaria has always persisted obstinately in his Religion in hopes of aspiring one day to the Imperial Dignity of which he would be totally frustrated if he should abandon the Pope's Interest and why some Protestant Princes have return'd unto the Romish Yoke is I think very well known That the Bishops and Prelates of Germany are so good Catholicks is no wonder because 't is a much sweeter and agreeable Life to be a rich Prince than a poor Preacher Besides they are deterred from any thoughts of change by the example of two Electors of Collen whose designs were very unhappy and fatal to them In Charles the fifth's time Spain by its Intrigues impeded the progress of the Reformation and since the loss of so fair an opportunity the Emperor par raison d'etat cannot abandon the Pope's Interests tho' he should desire to do it and the Ecclesiastical Princes are forced to hold with him that they may have a support against the temporal ones but if the Emperor should really design to leave the Pope 't is most certain that he would first have all the Clergy upon his back nor could he be assur'd that the Temporal Princes would stand by him especially whilst the Princes of the most Ancient and Noble Families whose Religion is the only Bar of their Pretences to the Empire might then with as much right aspire to it as any and openly rival the House of Austria the Pope too would move Heaven and Earth against the accomplishment of a design so terrible and pernicious to his Dignity nor would the French King let slip so good an occasion of advancing himself to the Imperial Dignity to which in such a juncture the Clergy would not fail to invite him The Spaniards would pass for the most zealous Defenders of the Holy Chair but the true reason is because the Pope's Favour and Protection is absolutely necessary to the peaceable maintenance of their Kingdom of Naples and Dutchy of Milan and thus we see them usually cloak their enterprizes with the pretext of defending and propagating the Catholick Religion but unsuccessfully for the most part I will not speak here of the intolerable Greatness of the Spanish Clergy nor of the strange things which they make the people believe are contain'd in the Doctrine of the Protestants France does not outwardly appear so passionately to espouse the Interests of Rome nor have the Popes been able to perswade the French Church to so absolute and slavish a submission as most other Churches have yielded them so that when they endeavour'd to infringe or encroach upon their privileges the Parliament of Paris did presently take Cognizance of the Affair and the Sorbon has likewise often rejected several unreasonable Propositions advanced by the Flatterers and Sycophants of the Pope they likewise spy the Nuncio's Conduct and will not allow him too great a liberty who when he comes out of Rome bears his Crosier erected but so soon as he Arrives on the French Frontiers he carries it Reversed till he obtains leave from the King to exercise his Function and then too they are forced to promise him that they will use it no longer nor no otherwise than he shall think fit Besides they are obliged to make use of French Secretaries and when they go away to leave a Roll of their Negotiations and their Seal behind them and to use several other such Formalities without which all their Proceedings would be null and void of effect so that the French say the Pope's Nuncio receives his Commission as well from the King as the Pope and that it is Precaria ad Nutum Regis revocabilis hence it is that the Nuncio lays aside his Crosier if he happens to come where the King is as if his Jurisdiction were dissolv'd by the Presence of the King Nay in Richlieu's time 't was debated of whether or no they should make a Patriarch in France which design tho' in my opinion could not have been very advantageous for France for the Clergy would never have been brought to consent thereto having reason enough to fear lest the King upon such an occasion should considerably retrench their fat Revenues Besides if the French King should ever have any thoughts of aspiring to the Empire his separation from Rome would be very disserviceable to him for should so powerful a Prince as the French King is become Master of the Empire he would not only revive the pretences of the ancient Emperors which are now as 't were buried in oblivion of which most depend on Rome but also the Defence of the Romish Church would be a very specious pretext of claiming several rights and privileges which the Popes have suffer'd to be lost On the contrary the Pope has a terrible aversion and fear of the French Monarchy since it is not to be doubted but upon such an occasion France would make a great Reformation in the Court of Rome and bridle the Pope's Authority so much that he would signify no more than a simple Patriarch and he must attend the same fate if Spain should aspire to the Universal Monarchy in the mean while it would go very ill with the Protestants and from hence we may conclude that the greatest Support of the Papal Chair is the Jealousy and Aequilibrium which Rome wisely maintains between the two Crowns of France and Spain and therefore 't is the nearest and dearest of the Pope's Interest to hinder any one of those Kingdoms from trampling on the other or aspiring to the universal Monarchy of Europe which also is easy to be observed from the Pope's Conduct for several Ages for when France was extreamly low and weakned after the Death of Henry the second the Pope was forc'd to declare himself for the Spanish Interests to which the Spaniards were resolv'd to oblige him both by fair means and by foul They gain'd the Pope's Nephews who were glad to enrich themselves during the short Life of their Uncle and willingly devoted themselves to Spain whilst they could receive large Pensions Benefices and considerable Charges and in case they did not render themselves very serviceable to those from whom they receiv'd pay they were sure to be cruelly persecuted after their Unckle's Death they also us'd all their efforts to exclude from the Succession any Cardinal that they suspected to be enclining to their Adversaries Interests but so soon as France began to lift up its head again the Popes resumed their former Indifference and Liberty and would shew themselves no more favourable to either party than as they were serviceable and addicted to the Papal Interest and therefore Guichard declar'd publickly in a Sermon at Paris in the Month of July 1637. that the War which France made then against Spain was a Holy War and in Defence of the Religion for had not the French King made use of that means to bring Spain to reason the King of Spain would certainly have placed his Almoner in
the Holy Chair Sect. 39. As for those that have revolted from the Pope tho' he would not be sorry to find them reduc'd again under his Jurisdiction yet he does not desire that by their ruins any Prince should become so great as to render himself formidable to all Europe for 't is better to give my Enemy his Life than to seek to deprive him of it at the cost of my own thus we see how great fears and jealousies the Victorious Progress of Charles the fifth's Arms against the Protestants occasion'd at Rome since it oblig'd Pope Paul the third to recall those Troups which he had destin'd to the Emperor's Service and had Philip the second subdu'd England Sixtus the fifth would too late have repented his rash promoting that Catholick Design So Gregory the fifteenth in the War of the Valteline sided with the Grisons against the Spaniards tho' the first were of the Reform'd Religion nor was Urban the eighth displeas'd to see the House of Austria mortifi'd by Gustavus Adolphus King of Suedeland because the Emperor in the business of Mantua had shown as little mercy to the Catholicks as before to the Protestants and 't is said that when Ferdinand the second desir'd a sum of Money which the same Pope had promised him instead thereof he sent him and his Army a plenary Indulgence at the hour of Death that they might with greater confidence expose themselves to all dangers Nor was the Court of Rome less apprehensive some years ago when the French King made so great Progresses in the United Provinces that the ruin of the Republick seem'd inevitable But tho' the Pope does not desire the weakning of the Protestant party by which rough means yet it cannot be denied that he uses all sort of slights and devices to allure them from their Religion amongst which the principal are to maintain a discord amongst the Protestants to flatter the Princes of that perswasion and by giving them Popish Wives to place a Serpent in their bosom to entice the cadets or younger Brothers of great Families by Spiritual Dignities and fat Benefices by making all those extreamly welcome that go over to 'em and instead of amusing themselves unsuccessfully to write Books against the Protestant Divines to cherish those disputes and quarrels that are amongst them and it is visibly certain that the Romish Clergy have made very great progresses in this last Age and are in a condition of making greater comforting themselves with a malicious joy to see that their Adversaries by internal Schisms weaken and destroy each other Sect. 40. From what has been here said may easily be judged Whether ever any Accommodation can be expected between the Protestants and Papists whilst each Party abandoning some of their Tenents shall make such Advances as at last to agree in one common Confession of their Faith and leave the rest as obscure and useless to be disputed of in the Schools or else that both might keep their Opinions and that notwithstanding the difference of Religions they might live with one another as Brethren in Christ and Members of one and the same Communion Yet if we rightly examine the state of affairs and the Principles of the Popish Religion we must own that all such Accommodations are morally impossible for we do not only discover an extream jarring and contradiction of Doctrines but the Interests of each are quite opposite and contrary one to another For first the Pope would willingly re-enter into the possession of the Church-Goods but he will find it hard to get so sweet a Morsel out of the Protestants Clutches Then again the Pope would fain be acknowledged the Head of Christendom but the Protestants will never part with the jus circa sacra the choicest Jewel of their Soveraignty and it is a contradictio in adjecto to live in good intelligence and friendship with the Pope and not own him at the same time the supreme Monarch of the Church Just as if any Stranger should desire to be naturaliz'd and made a free Denison of England and yet refuse to acknowledge the King his Soveraign Lord. The Infallibility of the Pope is likewise the Corner-stone of the Popedom which if once taken away the whole Structure will fall to the Ground and therefore the Pope par raison d'etat cannot yield the least of those points which occasion the Division betwixt the Protestants and Papists for if the Pope should own that any the least part of that Doctrine which he has hitherto maintain'd is false he must grant at the same time that he is not infallible Can he therefore err in one point He may easily err in another But if the Protestants grant that one Article of the Pope's Infallibility they must also give him all the other controverted points Now 't is non-sence to imagine that the Protestants will ever retract all that they have written against the Pope and should the Laity be brought to do it what will the Clergy do Where will they dispose of their Wives and Children c. Therefore how good and how pious soever their Intention may have been who have propos'd any means of an Accommodation between the Protestants and Papists which they call by the name of Syncretism yet they are in reality nothing but pure Whimsies and serve only to furnish matter of Raillery and Diversion to the Papists who are also very well contented that the Protestant Divines should amuse themselves with such Chimaera's since they are sure to get by it but never lose any thing forasmuch as the Protestants do not only fall foul upon one another on the account of this pretended Syncretism but the common and united zeal which they heretofore bare against the Papists is thereby extreamly weakened for any one that does not understand the matter to the botom when he hears them talk of an Accommodation will easily be perswaded that the Difference betwixt us is not so great or capital as has been represented Now he that admits such thoughts will at the same time be apt to revolve in his mind the benefits and advantages he may find in the Roman Communion and then he 'll make no great scruple to bid adieu to the Protestant Religion for 't is with their Religion as with a Maiden-head or Town besieg'd which run a great risque of being lost when once they begin to parley Sect. 41. 'T is a quaere whether the Pope with the united help of all of his Perswasion can bring the Protestants by force under his Jurisdiction We answer That the Papists do considerably excel the Protestants in number for on the Pope's side is all Italy Spain Portugal France and the greatest part of Poland as well as the weakest Cantons of Switzerland In Germany are all the Austrian Provinces the Kingdom of Bohemia almost all Upper Hungary the Bishops and Prelates the House of Bavaria and Newburg the Marquesate of Baden and some other Princes of less consideration a great number of