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
Counts Lords Free Knighthoods and Imperial Cities besides a great many in Protestant Countries which all together according to my Estimate will amount to two thirds of Germany In Holland we find a great many Papists and there were a great many of the same leaven in England though God be thanked since the Happy Coming of Their Present Majesties to the Crown the Land is pretty well scowr'd of them On the other side we reckon among the Protestants the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland with all their dependences Suedeland Denmark Holland the most of the Temporal Electors and Princes together with the Imperial Cities of Germany The Protestants of France are at present disarm'd those of Poland are not in a condition to undertake any thing the Cities of Prussia and Curland have enough to do to maintain the free exercise of their Religion Transylvania can do but little And the Papists have besides this advantage above the Protestants That they all of 'em own the Pope for Supreme Head of their Church and do at least with their Mouth and externally profess one and the same Faith But on the contrary the Protestants have no visible Spiritual Head but are miserably divided amongst themselves for not to mention those little Sects of Arminians Socinians Anabaptists and the rest their Body is divided into almost two equal parts of Lutherans and Calvinists amongst which a great many are as much imbitter'd against one another as they are against the Common Enemy the Papists Besides there is no general Policy or Government in the Religion amongst them but in every state the particular Soveraign regulates the Affairs thereof according to his own will and pleasure Nor can it be denied that commonly speaking the Papists do with more Zeal Labour and Industry promote the advancement and propagation of their Religion than do the Protestants who have mostly in view how they may conveniently subsist by their Benefices as the chiefest prospect of Handicrafts-men is how to get their Living by the Trade to which they apply themselves So that the search of the Kingdom of God is as the reserve and the last thing they take care for Whereas the Monks and Jesuites on the contrary have brought themselves into great repute by their Missions both into the East and West Indies and though in the relations they give us thereof they intermit a thousand fabulous reports yet the thing in it self is extreamly laudable In fine there is such an irreconcileable Jealousie among the chiefest of the Protestant States that it is morally impossible ever to perswade them to submit to one Head As for example Betwixt England and Holland Suedeland and Denmark not to mention the rest Though again it must be owned too that there are no less Jealousies between France and Spain which will scarcely permit them to act unanimously against the Protestants So that notwithstanding the great inequality in strength that there is between the Protestants and Papists the former need never apprehend the Oppression of the latter In the mean while there is a great difference between the Protestants that form an Independent State and those that are under the Yoke of Popish Lords for these are not half so well assur'd of the maintenance of their Religion as are the others Thus the Security of the French Protestants depends on the bare word of the King and the Edict of Nantes so that they would be in a sad condition if the French King should at any time be possest with a Spanish or Austrian Zeal Yet I don't believe he will ever undertake to force them in the matter of Religion as long as they live peaceably and contented with that Liberty he allows them especially if he considers the good Service they rendered to his Grandfather Henry the Fourth and that he himself without their assistance had never arrived to the Crown of France Nor can Poland easily suppress the exercise of the Protestant Religion in Curland and Prussia as long as Dantzick enjoys its Liberty In Germany the Protestants are strong enough So that if they were united under one Head they would make a formidable Kingdom but the great number of their Chiefs the diversity of their Interests and their distance from one another diminishes their Strength very considerably so that the Emperor in the space of an hundred years had twice reduc'd them to such a condition that their Religion and Liberty which are so inseparably annex'd that the loss of one would have been a necessary consequence of the other's loss had both been ruin'd without the assistance of France and Suedeland 'T is true of late years some have pretended to hold forth this new Maxim That the Protestants in Germany are able to subsist and maintain their Liberties without the help of those two Crowns and that Brandenburg is very fit to have the management and direction in Chief of all their Affairs And 't is indeed the real Interest of the House of Austria that such an Opinion should prevail among the Protestants 'T is with this Pretext that the Brandenburger and the House of Lunenburg cover the desire they have of putting themselves in possession of those Lands which the King of Suedeland has in Germany whilst they give out They are as well able to maintain them in the enjoyment of their Liberty and Religion as the other Protestant States Yet it is most certain that if these two Houses should attain their ends their additional Grandeur would render them less formidable to the Emperor than they are at present whilst back'd and supported by the King of Suedeland And they are no less deceived if they think to find as sure a Support from Denmark or Holland as they have received from France and Suedeland And thirdly Should the Emperor once attain to his desire and dispossessing those two Crowns of what they have at present in Germany introduce again the Spanish Faction and mortifie the States by the maintenance of a standing Army and other Inconveniences of War who at such a time could oblige the Emperor to disband his Victorious Troops And if for example the Emperor could find no Pretext to keep his Army together and to oblige the Protestants to maintain it at their cost will Brandenburg and Lunenburg make head against him And fourthly If in case the Protestant States should not find themselves equal to so vast a Work Whether those two Crowns would at their Call come and help them And whether their own Affairs would permit them to undertake so important a design Or lastly Whether there would fall down from Heaven another Gustavus Adolphus to redeem them from the very brink of Destruction and make as great a progress as that mighty Conqueror once did And as for such as believe that the Security of the Protestant Religion can consist alone in Parchment and Seals or that the Emperor will not attempt the Soveraignty of Germany if ever a fair occasion presents it self whilst he
can pretext so specious Causes as is the restauration of the Catholick Religion and Goods of the Ecclesiasticks they must have quite lost all knowledge of preceding times besides the Treaty of Nimmigen has shewn how vain and fruitless all such Projects are The Independent Protestant States need not fear being oblig'd to abandon their Religion by any violent means for as the uniformity of Religion cannot remove the Jealousies of State which is notoriously evident from France and Spain England and Holland so neither can the difference of Religion produce this effect that in case any potent State of the Romish Perswasion should undertake to oppress a neighbouring Protestant all the Papists should forsake the one and immediately join with the other especially if they had any Interest in the preservation of the State that should be in danger of ruine The lastingness and conservation of the Protestant Religion in those States where it is profess'd does chiefly consist in the care that is taken to maintain it within the Country whereto they have no need of such subtile and artificial Devices as are us'd in the support of the Popedom but the most simple and ordinary means are sufficient for it mostly consists herein That the Schools and Churches be provided of learned and pious Teachers That the Clergy by a sound Doctrine and virtuous Life give a good Example to their Flocks That every one be easily grounded in the true Fundamentals of their Religion and especially such as are to be employed in Affairs of State that they may be able to defend themselves against the Artifices of the Papists chiefly when they happen to travel in Popish Countries And lastly That the Clergy qualifie themselves so as to be able to baffle their Adversaries and refute all their Quirks and Sophistical Arguments Some are of opinion that it would be no small advantage to us if the two head Parties of the Protestants which only differ in some particular opinions whilst the Interests of their Religions is one and the same could be brought to an accommodation and union under one head the which they imagine to be very feasible if we would lay aside all Hate Animosities Self-Love Pride Opiniatrety and unreasonable Preventions But if we examine well the Genius and Humor of most of the World we shall find this postulatum to be extravagant for if a man should consider the Controversies written on the subject of Religion impartially and unprevented he would stand amaz'd to see how the writers turn and wind themselves on all sides to maintain the opinion they have once laid down without having the least regard to its Agreement or Repugnance to the Scriptures And how often they renew Disputes and Questions which have been refuted a thousand times Besides It can never happen that one opinion should be thought as good as the other for such an indifference in any one point would shew that they did not much matter all the rest Furthermore 't would be very dangerous to make those Articles wherein we cannot agree problematick nor can I tell by what Authority we presume of our own Heads to make any Article Fundamental or Problematick Some are likewise of the mind that we should draw up a Scheme of all the points in which both parties agree and try if from thence may be form'd a perfect System of Divinity which from the beginning to the end should be compos'd ad formam justae Artis So that if this project could succeed altho' there should remain some different opinions yet if they did not dissolve the union and continuity of the whole body we should in the main agree concerning the means of attaining Eternal Happiness and all the rest would not be sufficient to hinder us from uniting in one Church But to judge rightly of this opinion one ought first to see a model of such a projected System For my part I know no better means than to commit the matter wholly to Divine Providence which in its own time will perhaps furnish expedients that the Wit of Man could not have imagin'd For 't is certain that unseasonable means will only serve to create new Schisms and Divisions In the mean while both parties notwithstanding the diversity of their Sentiments ought to unite against the common Enemies and to be really perswaded that the Pope is no better a Friend to the Lutheran than to the Calvinist As for what belongs to those little Sects of Socinians Anabaptist and such like 't is impossible to hope for any reconciliation with them whilst those believe that the Christian Religion is nothing but a Philosophy purely Moral and these know not what to believe themselves to which we may add That these last have filled their Heads with a sort of a new Polity which would render them very dangerous to a State where they had the upper hand but whether the Socinians have the same Sentiments I cannot well determine since they are not as yet become so powerful in any Republick as to be able to occasion any Troubles or Revolutions THE END Laus Deo
Reconciliation Sect. 2. If we will ascend to the first causes of the thing we shall find that before our Saviour's Birth the whole World excepting the Jewish Nation was benighted in the darkest Ignorance of Divine Affairs For what they did hold forth in general concerning the Nature of their Gods c. consisted mostly in improbable and impudent Fables 'T is true some of the most Learned among the Heathens could Discourse more rationally of the Divinity and State of the Soul but it was so dubious imperfect and ill-grounded a Description they made thereof that they themselves scarce knew what they meant The most of them were well enough convinced that they were oblig'd to the Exercise and Practice of Virtue but they knew no farther Effects thereof than that Advantage and Honour which they enjoy'd thereby in civil Conversation for as for what the Poets held forth concerning the Rewards which the just and the Torments which the unjust were to expect after this Life those that would pass for the wisest Men laugh'd at it esteeming it nothing more than a witty Fable and Bug-bears invented to frighten the unthinking Mobile into their Devoirs The rest of the People liv'd without proposing to themselves any other ends and in that which the Heathens named Religion there was not to be found any Rules or Formularies including the principal Matters of Divinity The greatest part of their Divine Worship consisted in Sacrifices Ceremonies and certain Holy-Days which were more spent in Plays and Debauches than any inquiry into Divine things so that from such a Heathenish Religion one could neither receive any Edification in this Life nor any hopes of a future Happiness in the next Sect. 3. In those times the Jews were the only People to whom God vouchsafed to reveal the True Religion and means of Eternal Salvation But betwixt that and the Christian Religion the difference is very considerable not only in that the Redeemer of the World and the Fountain of Salvation was represented to the Jews by Types and Figures whereas the Christian Religion comprehends the reality and accomplishment thereof but forasmuch as the Religion of the Jews was dress'd up with abundance of tedious Ceremonies whereof the greatest part had respect to the Policy and natural Inclinations of that People which were great obstacles to the growth of their Religion and render'd it morally impossible to become Universal and serve for all the World 'T is true the other Nations were not so totally excluded that through Faith in Jesus Christ they could not likewise be saved to which end there were among the Jews some godly and zealous men that made it their business to convert the Heathens especially those with whom they had to do but it did not yet please the All-wise God to send out his Embassadors or Apostles honour'd with especial and extraordinary Gifts over all the Earth to turn all Nations to the Jewish Faith and the pains that some particulars took in the Conversion of the Infidels could not produce any great effects in relation to the whole World And forasmuch as the Jews in those times being the Select People of God had the advantage above all others and that the only Temple of the True God was amongst them they valu'd themselves highly therefore and despised all the rest of the World in comparison with themselves Besides They were oblig'd upon the Account of their Ceremonies to abstain from a too free and familiar Conversation with other Nations which produc'd an implacable and reciprocal hate betwixt them so that they were set against all the World and all the World against them and consequently destroy'd all hopes of the propagation of their Religion Again the Heathens could not easily be perswaded that when they would Solemnly pay their Adorations to God Almighty they must make a long Journey to Jerusalem as if they themselves could not build a Temple in their own Country which should enjoy the same privilege as that of the Jews To which prejudice we may add that those who were converted to the Jewish Religion were not so much esteem'd as the Natives of the Country so that a very few could resolve for Religion's sake to expose themselves to that contempt which is usually the fate of strangers to endure Sect. 4. But the Christian Religion has not only a much purer and clearer Light and other Advantages above the Jewish which we leave to be considered by the Divines but it is also free'd from those streightning Circumstances which render'd the Jewish Religion so particular and it has all the Qualities that are requisite to the composition of an Universal Religion upon which Account all men are oblig'd to embrace the same which ought especially to be observed by one that will enquire into the Nature and Genius of the Christian Religion for in this God has not set apart any particular Land or Country where he will more peculiarly be Ador'd nor endu'd any with a privileg'd Holiness above the rest so that the inconvenience and great distance of God's Temple can now no longer be a pretext to this or that People for in all Nations the offering of an humble and contrite heart is equally agreeable to the common Saviour of the whole World nor is there any one Temple where God is more present or our Prayers sooner accepted than in another No Nation professing the Christian Religion has such Advantages above the rest whereupon to value its self and undervalue its Neighbour There is no distinction of Jew or Greek Bondman or Free but we are all in Jesus Christ there is no particular Race or Family selected by God for the performing Divine Service as among the Jews but all other abilities concurring one has as much right thereto as another There is nothing in the Christian Religion that hinders us from maintaining a good Union and Correspondence with all men or to render one another those mutual good Offices which the Law of Nature requires from us The Christian Religion simply consider'd and in its natural Purity dispoil'd of all Worldly views and interests has not the least jarring or discord with the Laws and Civil Society in as much as they agree with the Dictates of right Reason but rather contributes much to the cementing and corroborating of the same tho' that is not its principal end or design There is nothing that does clash with the ends of Civil Government or that should hinder us from living honourably quietly and securely under the Protection of our Rulers so that every Christian may yield an exact and perfect obedience to every command of the Secular Power as long as such commands do not recede from the Law of Nature right Reason and the Necessities of the State as likewise he may fill every charge and employ that is necessary in a well govern'd Common-wealth On the contrary the Christian Religion is most fit thereto for it does require in us a strict observation of all the Precepts
of the Law of Nature and especially those the breach whereof is not obnoxious to the punishment of any Civil Laws and does recommend to every one the performance of his charge as far as it concurs with the Laws of Nature and Honour with the greatest Zeal and Fidelity imaginable so that there is no sort of Philosophy in the World nor any other Religion whatsoever that can compare with the Christian in those points as may be seen at first sight by any one that will take the pains to make a parallel of them together so that it is not only the obligation of every particular man in as much as he is one day to give an account to God for his Soul to embrace the Christian Religion but all those whom God has entrusted with the Supreme Power are particularly bound for reasons before mentioned to introduce and maintain it in their States and that by an obligation which does necessarily follow the exercise of their Office Now tho' these effects are not every where equally visible among Christians and that there are found some who lead as irregular and disorderly lives as the worst of Turks and Infidels the blame is not to be laid upon the Christian Religion but is to be imputed to the malice and perverseness of mankind who only hide their impiety under that Sacred Veil and do little trouble themselves to put in practice the most excellent Lessons which the bestof Religions does continually suggest to ' em Sect. 5. But as all these things cannot be doubted of by the more Learned sort of Men so there occurs here a very considerable question namely Whether the Christian Religion does indispensibly require that the external Direction of it should depend of any other than those who have the Supreme Power and Administration of Affairs in every State Or which is the same in effect Whether the external Government thereof should reside conjointly in the Priests and Clergy or in any one of them without any dependance on the Supreme Secular Powers Or else Whether there must be but one Soveraign Director of the Christian Religion whom all other Christian States shall blindly obey All which Quaeries as some think do finally terminate in this Whether each State ought to regulate its self according to its own Interest and Advantage Or Whether all other States ought to make themselves Slaves to one and seek to render it great and flourishing by their own Loss and Destruction By the external Government or Direction of the Christian Religion we understand such a Power which exerts it self in the choice it makes of certain Persons to be employ'd in the publick exercise of Divine Service reserving to its self the Jurisdiction and free Liberty of enquiring into the Carriage and Demeanour of those Persons The Administration and Disposal of all such Goods as shall be Consecrated to Religion and Pious Uses by Enacting such Laws as shall be thought necessary for the Support and Maintaining of Religion in deciding all Differences and Disputes that upon any occasion may arise among the Clergy and other things of the like nature And we distinguish this external Direction from the Minister of the Church which consists in Teaching Preaching and Administring the Holy Sacraments which beyond all dispute does alone belong to the Clergy but this question is to be understood de Ecclesia jam plantata constituta non de adhuc constituenda plantanda of the Church which is already Established and not of that which is yet to be founded For the Christian Doctrine originally proceeding from the Divine Revelation and Inspiration of the Holy Ghost no Human Power can be admitted to the Direction thereof before that it be manifested and laid open by those that are immediately Authoriz'd by God for that purpose So likewise when our Saviour after his Resurrection sent out his Disciples as his Apostles and Embassadors over all the World to promulge and introduce the Doctrine of the Holy Gospel they did not receive this Commission and Plenipotential right of Preaching here and there from the Supreme Magistrate but from God alone to which therefore the King was as much oblig'd to submit as the meanest of his Subjects they being the immediate Messengers of God and to receive their Doctrine with all humility and obedience Besides it would be very unreasonable and ridiculous to aspire to the Direction of Affairs whereof they had not the least Cognizance From whence it does also necessarily follow that this question is to be understood of those Supreme Powers which themselves do profess the Christian Religion and not of Infidels or Hereticks for to commit the Care and Direction of our Religion to such were to set the Wolf to keep the Sheep Sect. 6. This question may be consider'd three several ways 1. Whether such a Necessity does arise from the Nature of each Religion in general Or 2. Whether it be a peculiar Effect of the Christian Religion And Lastly Whether it is grounded on any positive Command and Order of God That such should proceed from the common and universal Nature of every Religion we can in no wise perceive Nor can a sensible man be easily brought to believe That to serve God rightly he must of necessity make a Schism in the State and introduce two jarring Powers independant of each other Such a Division or Composition of the Soveraign Power in the same Republick is the ready means of fomenting an unquenchable Fire of Distrusts Fears and internal Jealousies whereas on the contrary there is no absurdity or contradiction in serving God and committing the external Direction of Divine Service to the Soveraign Powers with this restriction that the Soveraign will not undertake to impose any False or Heretical Opinions on us In like manner as every one is naturally oblig'd to serve God so he likewise has the Power of Instituting such external Signs of his Adoration as he is perswaded to be most pleasing and agreeable to God But so soon as Mankind set themselves to the forming and composing of civil Societies they abandon'd all their right and power to those to whom belong the direction and management of the whole Society The ancient Patres-Familias or Fathers of the Family before the construction of any Republick have this right solely seated in themselves and which from them was wont to descend to the first born of the Family as Haereditas Eximia the more Excellent and Eminent Part of their Inheritance But so soon as men with one common accord united themselves into civil Societies and Common-weals this Power was transferr'd from the Head of each Family to the Head of the Republick and this was done upon very weighty reasons for if it had been left to every mans fancy and pleasure what sort of Ceremonies he would observe in the external Adoration of God the strange and contrary varieties of serving God would have produc'd nothing but Hate Contempt and irreconcileable Dissentions amongst the
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
not think it worth while to seek after a better Thus God by his withdrawing the Mobile from their Heathenish manner of serving him loosned the very Foundations of this Grand Machine and thereby destroy'd the Form and Superstructure thereof For the Ignorance and Credulity of the common People was the great Basis by which Paganism was alone sustained Sect. 9. After that the Christian Religion was communicated first to the common People as we have before shew'd the greatest Opposition it met withal was from the Roman Emperors for as in their Dominions it had taken the deepest Root and made the greatest Progress so was it there most cruelly Persecuted and Oppressed to which did not a little Contribute their Ignorance of this New Religion what its Principles and what its Design was to which Cause we may add the great Number of Proselytes daily gain'd by the Publishers of the Gospel who all of 'em openly contemn'd the Heathenish Rites and Ceremonies Besides The Emperors thought it much below 'em and a derogation from their Dignities to enter into a more particular examination of this Doctrine The first Christians also being for the most part very unlearn'd were not able to reduce their Religion into any Method or Form wherein to present it to those that were in Authority which was the occasion that the most malicious Lyes and Calumnies of their Enemies were taken up for great Truths even by those that cast an indifferent Eye on that Religion They were accus'd of practising all sorts of Debauchery and Immodesty in their secret Nocturnal Assemblies nay they did not stick to traduce them of holding private Cabals and Conspiracies against the State There were a great many that had an Aversion for all Innovations whose Argument was That since the Roman Common-wealth had so bravely subsisted with its Old Religion for so many Hundred Years Why could it not make the same shift still And 't was particularly against all Rules of Policy to suffer the Mobile to begin so great a Revolution as if they were wiser than their Lords and Rulers And that which lookt most suspicious was That the Christians had constituted among themselves a sort of Ecclesiastical Government which they consider'd as a Schism or Faction as if the Christians had design'd to erect a New Common-wealth upon the ruins of the Old one and by dividing the Forces of the Empire at last make themselves Masters of the whole Lastly Whilest the Heathen Temples began to be less frequented proportionably as the number of the Christians increased and that in the mean time the Grandeur of the Roman Empire was sensibly decay'd and weaken'd by the cruel shocks it had receiv'd from the Germans Farthians c. a great many of the People possess'd with Bigottry and Superstition could attribute it to nothing else but the contempt and neglect of their Gods by whose favourable Assistance Rome had seen its self Mistress of the World They fell therefore upon the Christians as wicked Atheistical Men and sworn Enemies to all Religions and because they refus'd to obey the Emperors Commands concerning the Adoration of Images and underwent all the Torments inflicted on them and Death it self with an amazing Tranquillity and Sedateness of mind they interpreted that as a malicious stubborness and hardness of heart and therefore raged more Tyrannically against them endeavouring by all sorts of Cruelties to maintain their Authority over these wretched People But what Reasons soever can be alledg'd in Justification of those bloody Persecutions exercis'd against the Christians by several Roman Emperors none can be sufficient to excuse them from the Title of unrighteous Tyrants and shameful Abusers of that High Power which God Almighty has entrusted them with For their Subjects had embraced this Religion by the express Commands of God which can neither be withstood or suspended by the Orders of any Earthly Soveraign since the Soveraigns as well as their Subjects are oblig'd to embrace this Religion the omission whereof is an high Sin against the Divine Majesty Besides They could not excuse themselves with the pretext of Ignorance for since it was a New Religion they were oblig'd with greater Care and Exactness to inform themselves of the Nature thereof and not so blindly to sentence poor innocent People for not obeying those commands which were not in the least Obligatory For I ought not to condemn any one to Death before I am fully inform'd of the Crimes whereof he stands accused Sect. 10. But since the Christian Religion did not owe its beginning to the Consent and Authority of the Soveraignâ— the Professors thereof found themselves oblig'd on their own Heads to establish their Religion and its external Administration after the best manner they could as it usually happens in all Societies that are founded in any State without the knowledge or permission of the Civil Magistrate where the Members of the same are necessitated to find out all the means that can best conduce to the advantage of their fellowship by chusing such Officers and making such Laws as are requisite to attain the ends they propose themselves 'T is true according to the Rules of the best Policy founded upon the Law of Nature the Administration and External Direction of Divine Worship as we had often repeated before does belong to the Soveraign but since he then neglected to perform that Function the Primitive Christians were forc'd to constitute Church-Ministers and to maintain them by the Alms of charitable People And when any Difference or Controversy arose amongst them which could not be determined by one Assembly alone they imparted it to another Assembly with which they kept Correspondence or else it was decided in a Convocation of the Neighbouring Ministers Now altho' it be against the Rules of Policy of all States to permit the erecting of Fellowships especially such as consist of any considerable Number of Persons to Subjects and Particulars yet it does not follow from thence that the Assemblies of the ancient Christians and their Synods were to be Interpreted seditious and unlawful Conventicles since they had no other prospect than the free Exercise of that Religion which God had imparted to 'em and against which no humane Constitutions were of any Efficacy For if the Soveraign does neglect his Duty and Care of his own Salvation it is not necessary that his Subjects should imitate him and reject the great Benefit that Heaven does offer to 'em because it is not accepted by their Soveraign nor can his Authority extend so far as to oblige them thereto And as each particular may take up Arms and defend himself when the Soveraign either cannot or will not afford him his Assistance and Protection so if he will not take care for my Soul I am so much the more oblig'd to watch over it my self as the Soul is of greater Consequence and Value than the Body and that another is less prejudiced by my Religion than by a violent tho' self-Defence since
improbabilities than one that has a better insight into the nature of things and a freer exercise of his Reason This ignorance accompanied afterwards with so insupportable a Pedantry whereas the preceding Age was more Learned was promoted by different Causes One of the Chiefest whereof was the Invasion of a no less Warlike than ignorant People in the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire which for some Ages during an unsetled and inconstant Government felt nothing but cruel Wars terrible Disorders spoiling ravaging and laying waste of whole Countries and in a Word all the miseries that are the necessary consequences of a Barbarous Government Whereas the Muses and Liberal Sciences are the Daughters of Peace and Prosperity but in the Hurly-burlies and Tumults of War Books are a dead Ware and shall lie long enough on the hands of those that have 'em Schools and Academies are then like Wildernesses either quite empty or haunted by none but wild Beasts and the Gentlemen of the long Robe will rather chuse to shoulder a Musquet than trudge to Westminster-Hall with a green Bag under their Arms so that in such times the poor Professors School-Masters c. have nothing to do but shut up their Shops pack up their Goods and begon especially when the Victorious Enemy has no knowledge of Letters and as little esteem or kindness for them There are some that will maintain that the Church-men themselves did not a little Contribute to these dark times of Ignorance for because the Philosophers had given them no small trouble under the Pagan Emperors and that still under the Christian Emperors there were found who oppos'd their Doctrine the Clergy upon that account conceiv'd an irreconcileable hatred and aversion against the Philosophers and against their Opinions and inspir'd the same Sentiments into all their Auditors and in all places where they had any Authority or Direction of the Schools they forbad the use of all the Heathen Authors under pretence that the youth might not be Debauched and Corrupted with the Errours of the Gentiles and that it was a sin for them to Study in Books fill'd with the Fables and Names of the Heathen Gods which no good Christian ought so much as to mention 'T was a very common Story too which they spread abroad that St. Jerom was whipt with Rods in a Dream by the Devil because he read Cicero with too great an Application And about the Year Four Hundred the Council of Carthage strictly prohibited the Bishops the reading of any Heathen Book and as in those miserable times few applied themselves to the Study of Letters except those that were destin'd to Divinity so that the few relicks of Learning were wholly engrossed by the Clergy the Schools already ruin'd were only us'd to attain the ends which they propos'd to themselves that is the propagation of Ignorance and the Students were very well satisfi'd with the remission and neglect of their usual Studies as being mightily affraid of becoming too Learned That such a Barbarity did not a little contribute to the introduction of Popery we may learn from hence that it would have been impossible in any but such ignorant times to have made the Epistolae Decretales ascrib'd to the first Popes pass for lawful wherein they made the World believe that it was always the right of the Bishop of Rome to give Laws at least in Spiritual Matters to all that bare the Name of Christians But afterwards when the Light of Knowledge began to glimmer a little in Europe and that it was impossible any longer to contain the European Nations now their Eyes were open'd in a slavery a gross and blind Ignorance had given birth to the Pope who had usurp'd the Care and Inspection of the Schools and Nurseries of Learning introduced therein the most miserable Pedantry that ever could be imagined and which even to this day his Creatures teach and maintain with a great deal of zeal in all their Schools But that which does chiefly seem to have powerfully contributed to this Greatness and Dominion of the Popes was the Ignorance of the true Fundamental Politicks wherein is contain'd the Cause Nature and Perfection of the Right and Might of Soveraigns and wherein amongst other things is demonstrated that to the perfection of any State it is absolutely necessary that the Supreme Authority be neither lessened nor divided And particularly we find that even the Greek and Latin Politicians did teach very pernicious Lessons concerning the mixture and division of the Soveraign Power inspiring the common People with Sentiments of Love and Kindness for a Democratical or Aristocratical State but an inveterate hatred against Monarchy and that they were perswaded that the more they could bind their Princes Hands the more happy would be the condition of the Republick Now these dangerous Maxims were not a little confirm'd by the violent and tyrannical Government of the Emperors who were mortally hated by the most part of their Subjects so that it is no wonder that this Science was quite overwhelm'd and lost in an universal Ignorance especially whilest the Clergy were of an Opinion that it was quite contrary to their Profession From hence it came that upon the first laying the Foundations of a Spiritual Soveraignty the World so little consider'd or understood the consequences of such a Work and how prejudicial it was like to be to the Supreme Secular Power which if they had done they would undoubtedly have opposed themselves to its first growth and have quash'd an Egg that should produce so terrible a Scorpion And we see even at this Day That in all Schools where Popish Priests bear sway they do intirely stifle the Science of the Politicks or at least they do so turn and wrest the principles thereof that it does not only not choak the Papal Authority but does rather serve to establish and confirm it Sect. 15. The reasons that induced the pretended Soveraign of the Church to make Rome the Seat of his Government were chiefly the Authority of that City which as it had been before the Metropolis of the Roman Empire so was it afterwards the Residence of the first Christian Emperors for as for what the Papists tell of St. Peter's Chair that 's a pure Fiction and Story invented by them to colour the usurpations of the Bishop of Rome which is manifest enough from hence that the Bishop of Constantinople when that City became the Capital of the new Eastern Empire enjoy'd the second place after the Bishop of Rome and that after the decay of the Western Empire the Priority of the See of Rome has often been disputed by the succeeding Bishops of Constantinople After that the Persecutions of the Heathen Emperors were quite ceased and that the Christian Religion began to breath Liberty and the Free Exercise of their Religion was confirm'd by the Statutes and Ordinances of the Empire the Clergy endeavour'd insensibly to introduce an Hierarchy or Church-Government into the Republick under
Arles into a Metropolis over seven Provinces the Pope made the Arch-Bishop thereof his Vicar General in France out of fear that the said Bishop might take an occasion to make himself Patriarch of the whole Kingdom and he was very well contented to enjoy such a precarious Power over the seventeen Provinces into which France was at that time divided rather than have the right in himself and an independent Authority over seven Provinces alone And to render the charge committed to him more awful and respected he omitted no opportunity of enlarging and extending the Papal Jurisdiction Afterwards in the eighth Century when the Ecclesiasticks and Monks were become very infamous for their exorbitant and irregular Lives one Winefred an English Monk afterwards nam'd Boniface being mov'd with an extraordinary zeal took upon him to reform the manners of the Clergy as also the introduction and plantation of the Christian Religion in some parts of Germany and more especially in Turinge and Freezland this man to give a greater lustre and credit to his Work devoted himself entirely to the Seat of Rome from whence he first receiv'd a Bishop's Mantle and afterwards was qualifi'd with the Title of Arch-Bishop of Mentz and by Gregory the Third was constituted his Vicar who gave him a plenary Authority of assembling Councils and making Bishops in those Countries which he had converted with Recommendations to the People and to Charles Martel Great Master of France that they should take him under their protection which they did with a very good will And when Charlemain his Son signifi'd to Boniface that he was very desirous of establishing the Church-Discipline he readily took that employ upon him to the no small advantage of the Romish Chair to gratify the same Charlemain he held a Council in Germany and several Synods in France at the request of King Pepin and presided in all those Assemblies tanquam Legatus Sedis Romanae And in the first Council the Clergy sign'd a Confession of Faith whereby they oblig'd themselves not only to persist in the Catholick Faith but they join'd themselves as Members to the Church of Rome and vow'd an eternal respect and obedience to St. Peter's Successours 'T was this same Boniface too that perswaded the Bishops of Germany to accept of the Pallium from the Pope who afterwards sent the same into France to bind them thereby the faster to his Interests and so soon as he had once accustom'd them to serve themselves of that sort of Robe he afterwards made it a necessary obligation and forbad them the exercise of any Episcopal Function before they should receive that Garment from Rome The Popes likewise pretended That they only had the Power of removing a Bishop from one See to another and oblig'd all the Western Bishops to receive their Confirmation from them for which they must pay some little Gratification that was afterwards converted into the Annates Besides this they took away the Authority of the Provincial Synods and annull'd their Decrees which at last was the occasion that no more were call'd when they perceiv'd that it was all in vain whilest the Pope abrogated all their constitutions according to his fancy without hearing their Reasons and Justifications At last Gregory the Seventh forced all the Bishops to swear Allegiance and Fidelity to the Romish Chair and made a Decree that no Prince or Soveraign should presume to condemn any man that made his Appeal to the Pope They forgot not likewise to send their Nuncio's or Legates in all Countries who exercis'd in the Pope's Name that Power and Authority which they had ravished from the Arch-Bishops and Provincial Synods and were double diligent in the advancement of their Master's Interests Sect. 17. This Ecclesiastical Supremacy daily increasing was extreamly prejudicial to the Civil Powers whilest the Clergy by their tricks and devices attracted infinite Riches and by their Riches a great number of idle Priests and lazy Monks 'T is true the Church ow'd the greatest part of its Riches to the Charity and pious Intentions of Kings Princes and others who were wheedled into a belief That to bestow great Largises and Donations on the Church was a most pleasing and acceptable Sacrifice to God and this their liberality was afterwards much more promoted when the people were perswaded That by good Works amongst which the Donationes ad pias Causas held the first rank Heaven and Happiness were to be purchased And whereas the Avarice of the Clergy increasing with their Riches could not be satiated by the free and generous liberality of the people they practised all sort of inventions to squeeze Money out of 'em upon which account they instituted a great number of Fopperies and unnecessary Ceremonies for which the Laity must dearly pay 'T was this their cursed Avarice that was the occasion of Masses without number to be said and sung as well for the living as the dead of Purgatory Indulgences Dispensations Pilgrimages Jubilees and a thousand other Bagatelles Besides they took a special care to insinuate themselves into the good wills of dying persons who were so much the less sollicitous how they dispos'd of their temporal Goods the desire of which did oftentimes make their Heirs think them too long liv'd and ante diem Patrios inquirere in Annos And at last if all means fail'd they were not asham'd to fall to down-right begging Amongst other devices to get Money the Popes serv'd themselves very advantageously in the eleventh and twelfth Century of the Crusado when the People mov'd with a godly itch of reconquering the Holy Land let themselves be mark'd with a Holy Cross for the Popes challeng'd to themselves the management and oversight of such sort of Ghostly expeditions and receiv'd into their more peculiar protection the Goods and Persons of all those Zealots that took the Cross upon them so that they could not be proceeded against neither Civilly nor Criminally until their return from the Holy Land whereby they had an occasion of promoting the commerce of their Indulgences and Dispensations more than ever Their Legates had the administration of all the Alms Collections and Legacies which were given to that end and from hence they took a pretext of obliging all the Clergy to pay them Tenths nay they very imperiously forced Kings Princes and great Lords to take upon them the Crusado which Arms they afterwards turn'd against all such as they accus'd condemn'd for Schism and Heresy declaring their Goods confiscated and void of all lawful Possessors distributing and dividing them to such as had rendred them any considerable Service and this Authority they exercis'd without asking the leave of Princes and States under whose Civil Jurisdiction they were who werel likewise aw'd into so slavish an obedience that they durst not oppose themselves against these Investitures tho' they easily perceiv'd the injustice of ' em Sect. 18. The Riches of the Church increasing the number of the Ecclesiasticks was likewise
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