ingrosse this power of granting Jndulgences to himselfe alone but as the Law hath imparted it in some measure to Metropolitans and Bishops So hee for reasonable consideration wil out of his loue and bountie affoord the same euen to Parish Priests the Rectors of Churches and Curates of Chappels and will not appropriate them only to his Churches in Rome but at very indifferent rates conferre them and annexe them for a time to any other Churches and Chappels the whole World ouer And lastly obserue good Reader how iust the Pope is and how thankfully hee recompenceth any fauours done him or any thing hee takes from any body for example if Kings or Princes pay well their Peter-pence and suffer their subiects to pay good prices for their Palls and other preferments and to send in roundly their Annats Tenthes Contributions and such other payments whereby they empty their owne and fill his Coffers then in recompence for this base trash hee will send one King a paire of hallowed beads which forsooth haue touched Saint Peters Sepulcher another a golden Rose or a hallowed Sword blest with his owne most holy hand or els an Agnus dei made vp onely by himselfe whose vertues no tongue can tell or els a most precious Relique as happly a tooth of some great Saint or two or three hayres of the taile of the Asse whereon Christ rode into Jerusalem or if hee be a great King then that inestimable Iewell a bit of wood which must bee held a piece of the crosse whereon Christ dyed So excellent an Alchymist is he as in stead of turning base metals into gold and siluer hee can teach Kings and Princes thus to turne their gold and siluer into lead and iron paper and parchment wood and waxe and in like manner hauing rob'd many thousand of the Churches in the World of their Tithes and Liuings as namely of our not 10000. Parishes hee hath deuoured almost 4000. Now in recompence of their Tithes so taken from them hee heere sells them for siluer these glorious Jndulgences being fine painted Babies to please Children but knowne to the wise not worth taking vp But thus this wily Foxe preyes vpon the world and hauing stolne the Goose sticks downe a Feather But the honest Reader may iustly here demand what they meane by an Jndulgence for the Remission of the 3. part of a mans sins for it seemes strange Diuinity that any part of a mans sinnes should be remitted and the rest remaine vnpardoned especially if here by sinnes they vnderstand the guilt of sinne seeing the grounds of our Religion teach them that sinne is either altogether or not at all pardoned for whereas in the Creed our Religion teacheth our people to beleeue the forgiuenesse of sinnes as an Article of their Christian faith and the prime prerogatiue belonging to the true holy Catholicke Church whereof they beleeue and professe themselues to bee members it would sound as new and vnsound Diuinity in their eares to be taught that they may safely beleeue the remission of a third part and not of all their sinnes And whereas Christ in that holy Prayer and Patterne of all Prayers the Lords Prayer not only giues good leaue but euen warrants and commands euery beleeuing Christian to pray for the forgiuenesse of his sinnes Luke 11.4 they would doubtlesse hold him no better then a piece of the Great Antichrist that should tell them their Sauiour meant it not of all but a part of their sinnes And therefore they doe boldly beleeue that when he told some of his followers their Sinnes were forgiuen them he meant plainly as he spake and gaue them leaue to take it in the best sense And as the guifts fauours and pardons of Princes to their Subiects vse to be extended inlarged and construed to the best behoofe of the Receiuer so much more this Prince of Peace enlargeth his loue and is well content his beleeuing Subiects improue his pardon to their best benefit and as it may be most fauourable and comfortable to themselues and therefore feare not to beleeue that when he pardons he pardons all and reserues not a third part or a halfe to bee paid for afterwards and they dare maintain it against any CoÌ„fessor in Rome or Iesuite in the world that when Nathan pronounced to Dauid that God had pardoned his sinne 2 Sam. 12.13 neither Nathan intended nor Dauid did suspect any exception or reseruation of some part of his sinne that was not pardoned So that if heere they meane of sinne it selfe they will finde few Customers for this Commodity amongst vs And therefore seeing it is Diuinity of a new stampe they had best keepe this new refined Romish ware at home Wee doubt not but during all this merry yeere of Jubilee such curious coÌ„modities as this will be of great price amongst them and that there will be more fooles ready to buy them then there bee wise and crafty fellowes ready to vent and sell them nor doe we doubt but that many things dayly refused for counterfeits here passe well enough for good and currant amongst them Let therefore the Romish Pilgrims Penitents pay what they please or make their Market as cheape as they can for pardon of a third part of their sinnes wee dare say our people will not giue a penny for the pardon of neuer so many as long as there lies remaining but one sinne vnpardoned for they beleeue the Text that tels them Psal 32.1 That man is blessed whose sinnes are remitted but their Bibles afford them no Charter of peace nor blessednesse to him that hath but a third part remitted And our Country people would soone tell them that sinnes in the soule are like thornes in the heele and so hinder their way to Heauen and happinesse and will therefore neuer be at cost and paine to plucke out some and leaue more behind seeing one alone will suffice to hinder his vpright and cheerefull walking But if by sinne they here vnderstand the Penance or punishment due to sinne then why doe they not explane it whether they meane the punishment iustly inflicted by God or the penance craftily imposed by themselues If the former then wee desire to see their authority and to shew their Commission how they came to be Stewards and dispensers of Gods Iustice And we must then also let loose vpon them one of their owne Friers Bernardinus de Bustis in suo Maâ—iâ—â—â— who about the time that this Booke was made in Rome preacht in the Popes owne presence that God had diuided his kingdome with the blessed Virgin committing mercy to her but reseruing Iustice to himselfe Which blasphemy though it looked so blacke as Cassander confesseth Cassander in Consultat it was hideous in the eyes and eares of many Romish Catholiques yet we must needs say hee dealt reasonably in regard of the Authors of this Booke and broachers of this Doctrine for hee though he took away mercy yet
Heathen know how sacred places the Churches and Temples bee for as it is imprinted in Nature to worship God so Reason as well as Religion affords that the places for that worship are therefore to be seuered and separated from ordinary vses and much more from filthy and prophane employments Therefore howsoeuer our Religion knowes that Churches are not inherently holy in themselues nor Typically as was the Temple at Ierusalem nor haue the appropriated promises that it had nor practise the many cumbersome idle Superstitions of Popery at their Consecrations yet doth it solemnly and decently dedicate them to God and vseth them not for Gods worship till they be so set apart by solemne Consecration And being so consecrated commands to keepe them cleane and in comely manner and measure to adorne them and allowes them not to bee imployed to any other vses at other times euen when God is not actually worshipped in them Therefore it forbids not only the keeping of Markets Sessions Courts Feasts and much more of Playes in the Churches which was vsuall in the times of Popery but euen of Schooles and Parish-meetings except in some outside or with certaine limitations And the least abuse or prophaning of our Churches is seuerely punished amongst vs not onely by our Ecclesiasticall Censures but our Temporall Lawes Wee therefore wonder at the Romish Church who punish so slightly such great and enormious prophanations as be here named and it is sorrow and shame that they should be named amongst Christians to be done in Churches and the more seeing they impute ascribe more locall inherent holinesse to Churches then we do But hereby as in many other things appeares their palpable Hypocrisie for if they bee so holy or they in their Consciences hold them so holy as they pretend why then make they no more account to haue them so filthily abused and punish it lesse then wee doe Indeed I know no expresse Law we haue nor no punishment specified for him that shall bee so bold and beastly as lye with a Woman in the Church for to that wee shall answer as did the famous Law-giuer Who can commit so foule a sinne seeing as Saint Paul saith Haue yee not Houses to eat and drinke in 1. Cor. 11.22 c So much more may we say in this case Haue yee not Houses c. How therfore can a man be so monstrous to doe that in Gods House which a ciuil man would be ashamed to offer in his Neighbours house But if any should bee found amongst vs that should dare to doe so bold and beastly a part I dare say hee should either dye without pitty or liue with such shame and hatred as hee had better haue dyed And as for our owne parts we suppose wee may truely say that since the reformation of Religion such a Sinner hath not beene heard of in our Nation So wee are both much sory and more ashamed that so foule and vile a thing should bee so common ordinary amongst the Papists seeing they passe vnder the name of Christians for if it were not ordinary then were there no need of this Law nor Penalty amongst them no more then is amongst vs. But wee are much ashamed that if it bee so common then that they who professe Christ and his holy Religion should set so slight a punishment vpon so foule a sinne euen such a one as may rather inuite wicked men to it then feare them from it And here wee confesse it may seeme very strange at the first sight how it can come to passe though they haue amongst them men so beastly-minded that they should haue opportunity to commit this wickednesse in Churches But it will not seeme so to them that are acquainted with the Doctrines and practices of Popery for they haue many Church-meetings on certaine Saints dayes and Eues that wee haue not and at certaine seasons of the yeere Besides also their Regulars do all rise at midnight both Men and Women and goe to their Seruice in their Churches the deuotion wherof should bee honourable in our eyes if it were not tainted with such grosse Superstition and accompanied with so many miserable and monstrous inconueniences And such men and women of the Laity as will may come thither also and those that doe are held most holy and deuout Now if the ancient Vigils of the Saints and Martyrs were found to minister the occasion of so great impurities euen in those pure times of the Primitiue Church as that by publike order they were put down no maruell if in those licentious times wherein the Popish Clergie haue no Law so strong as their lust no bridle vpon their affections but which they please to put vpon themselues if most foule and enormious things euen so foule as Whoredome and other execrable pollutions bee perpetrated in their very Churches Moreouer their great Master-piece of Policie their Stratagem of Auricular Confession is for the most part exercised in their Churches where their Confessor sits in a place seuered for the purpose or at least in a corner where none can heare and the Penitent kneels before him By the abuse whereof how great enormities haue beene committed or at least the bargaines made in Churches by the dayly opportunities of meeting betwixt men and women their own Histories and the continuall experience these many yeeres do afford so many lamentable Relations as grieue our hearts to thinke on and the honour of Religion requires and modesty commands rather to bee suppressed in silence and vnknowne of some then repeated and diuulged to the scandall of all Furthermore heere appeare the fearfull fruits of their rigorous Law by which they tye their Clergie frō lawfull marriage For howsoeuer many among them as also amongst vs are able to containe yet as the wiser sort of themselues confesse to many it is so difficult and to some others so impossible as rather then they will want a woman they will eate of the forbidden fruit and take such as they can any way win to their wicked purpose and rather then they will want time place and opportunity they will as it is here manifest not spare the Church it selfe Therefore how much more holily and wisely hath our Church ordered that according to the Law of God and Nature euery man that finds himselfe not fit to want that society shall take that course and vse that holy meanes of Marriage which the Holy Ghost approueth to bee honourable in all and which that learned Aeneas Syluius afterward Pope Pius Secundus tels vs was vpon great reasons once forbidden to the Clergie but now vpon farre greater and better reasons ought to bee restored It is heere also manifest how vnequall and vnreasonable Iudges they be betwixt themselues and vs They will bee the holy Church and wee must passe for prophane and be driuen out as dogges Nay in forraigne Nations they feare not to make their people beleeue that we liue not like Christians wee serue
not God keepe no Sabboths care for no Churches haue no Wiues but community of Women and in a word liue in all licentiousnes more like Heathens then Christians We confesse indeed with S. Paul wee are all sinners in Gods sight and the best of vs all haue cause to cry out with him O miserable man that I am c. And there bee many great sinners and sinnes amongst vs which as wee confesse to be blemishes in the face of our Profession staines to our Religion and occasions of griefe to all the godly so wee dare iustifie it they are none of them allowed no nor tolerated much lesse maintained either by the Lawes of our Land or rules of Religion yet among all the euils that are among vs and the enormities which by the abuse of our long peace and plenty are too commonly practised among vngodly and vnregenerate men we challenge euen the most malicious enemies to proue if they can that euer any in these Kingdomes euen of the prophanest refuse of our Religion were found to be so extremely and shamefully impious as to lye with women in the Churches which it seemes by these words of their owne is alas too common among the Papists for if it were not frequent the price for the Absolution would not here bee rated among the rest for our parts our hearts trembled our mindes were amazed our soules sighed and sorrowed when we read it and had it not come from themselues such is our equity charity towards them wee should not haue beleeued it But seeing it is so manifest euen by their owne confession and was neuer charged vpon them by vs till thus they discouered it of themselues wee appeale to all the World of reasonable men whether they deale not vnreasonably with vs to appropriate all holinesse as only being their owne and to exclude vs amongst whom blessed bee God no such foule euils are found at all as heereby appeare to be frequent among themselues As for those other enormious and shameful things intimated in these words to bee perpetrated amongst them in their Churches Forasmuch as it seemes they are so foule as they be ashamed to name them wee for our parts are content to be as ignorant of them as their people be of that which is taught in our Pulpits or contained in the Bibles that lye in our Churches And for our neighbours the English Papists if they long to know the secret of this Pope-holy Mystery they may easily send and bee certified by some of their zealous Brethren who are now preparing to goe to Rome to the iolly Iubile now at hand who doubtlesse will bee carefully Catechized by the English Iesuites there and sufficiently instructed in this and many other poynts of Romish Catholicke Diuinity But if their stomacks be so sharpe set and their deuotions so earnest and their soules so sicke of filthy loue towards this spirituall Strumpet as they cannot indure to stay so long without it they may doe well to trusse vp their fardels and goe themselues that so they may receiue the speedier fuller and surer satisfaction And therefore O yes you that are so minded among our English Papists get you gone wee pray you what should hinder your Voyage seeing it's hard to say whether our King will more willingly let them goe as long as they beare such minds or the Pope more heartily bid them welcome as long as their English Gold sounds merrily in their pockets The while till they put the matter to tryall let the diligent and discreet Reader obserue with me this one thing for a Conclusion of this vnsauory Subiect Wee heere haue heard of Romish Catholickes how they vse their Churches some do lye with Women in them others commit such foule things there as they are ashamed to name yet these shamefull enormities found nowhere in the world but among themselues are esteemed and punished as poore idle and triuiall matters whereas if one should be found reading the holy Bible in the vulgar Tongue in one of their Churches or if two men two women or a man and a woman should bee taken reading and conferring vpon some Chapter of the blessed Gospell in their Mother-Tongue it is not 7 nor 700. Grosses would serue their turnes to procure their Absolution A fearfull thing and not to be beleeued if it came not from themselues that a man and a woman had better lye together in the Church and commit any wickednesse possible to bee done then to bee found reading the New Testament in the Church CHAP. IIII. 4. PERIVRIE The Romish Text. An Absolution for him that hath committed Periury or hath wilfully and falsly forsworne himselfe is rated at 6. Grosses English Obseruations PEriurie is one of the great Sinnes condemned in the Morall Law vnder the heauiest penalties and it is so foule a sinne as all well-formed Common-wealths euen amongst Turkes and Heathens doe detest it and deeply punish it What an holy Catholike Church then is this which makes so small account of so great a sinne And how vnworthily doe they wrong vs and other reformed Churches in whose Courts both Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall Periurie is so sharply censured And how good cause haue all Christians to take heed how they trust or haue any thing to doe with this Generation where Periurie is bought and sold at so easie a rate CHAP. V. 5. VSVRIE The Romish Text. An Absolution for him that secretly practiseth Vsury is rated at 7. Grosses An Absolution for him that burieth an open and notorious Vsurer in Christian mans buriall is rated at 8. Grosses English Obseruations VSurie is worthily condemned by the common Law and it is a commendable thing in the Popes Law that it forbids and punisheth all Vsurie If the Popes Canon Law were as good in other things wee should sooner and easier come to a good agreement But see how euen their best Lawes are made but Spiders webs for heere Vsurie is bought at an easie rate For if the Vsurer can gaine Hundreds in a yeere hee will little care for paying for his Absolution once a yeere nay if hee paid for it once a weeke hee would not lose by the bargaine And whereas by the * Greg. Decret Lib. 5. Cap. 2. Tit. de Vsuris Ecclesiasticall Lawes no Priest may bury the body of a knowne Vsurer in Christian buriall vnder a very great penalty you may bee sure a rich Vsurer will not care at least when hee dyes and can keepe his money no longer to pay the Priest soundly that will aduenture to bury him in the Church because though they liue like dogges deuouring their poore Neighbours yet dying they would not bee buried amongst dogges but amongst men and Christian men For they bee of Balaams Religion that howsoeuer they liue the life of the wicked Numb 23.10 yet they would bee glad to dye the death of the Righteous and to haue their carcases rest with the bodies of the best whose minds they would
amongst them for such to say Masse as bee not full and lawfull Priests the danger whereof by their owne confession is no lesse then horrible Idolatry for by their owne rules if it be not consecrated it 's Idolatry to worship it and if hee be no Priest he cannot consecrate I doe not beleeue they thought to haue opened vs this doore not indeed did they thinke wee should euer haue seene this Booke But thus it pleaseth God to make them vent and foame out their owne shame And touching the third is it not strange and fearfull that some of their Clergie dare not only procure themselues to be promoted with places and Benefices which indeed are not but be meerely forged and counterfeit But moreouer dare her ignorant and prophane people to forsweare themselues and damne their soules by lending them a false Oath to confirme it Howsoeuer this may affect them wee for our parts professe it makes our hearts to tremble and our soules to mourne that such Atheisticall impiety should bee so frequent among them euen in their Clergy and Court of Rome And that it is no extraordinary but a frequent case appeares by the words following in that the Pope so wisely takes hold of it For Aquila non capit Muscas the lofty Eagle will not stoope at little Flyes and if it were a poore bait they would nor bite Seing therefore the Pope drew a good composition out of these its manifest to bee too common a case amongst the Popish Clergie And in as much as Iulius the 2. was willing to gaine out of so vngodly a ground it shewes him out of his owne Romish Records to bee no better a man then the Histories make him But for the last it 's more then strange that if he be so proud to offer yet that Kings will so farre forget themselues as thus to be befooled and to suffer an vsurping Prelate to domineere ouer them For who should hinder a King frō going to the place of Christs Sepulcher at his pleasure Or if another may command him or forbid him how is he then a King If it bee a part of the power or Prerogatiue of a King to set impositions then certainly those are but pieces of Kings who submit themselues to the penalties and impositions the Pope shall set vpon them those that will thus be trodden and trampled vpon by this base companion and yet proud Antichrist it 's pitty but they should pay in stead of this hundred for their Absolution a hundred thousand Grosses for such their grosse folly and vnkingly debasing of themselues CHAP. II. DISPENSATIONS First for Bastardie The Romish Text. A Dispensation for a Bastard to enter all holy Orders and to take a Benefice with Cure will cost 12. Grosses And to haue two Benefices compatible will cost him 2. Ducats 4. Carlens But if he will haue three Benefices then he must pay 4. Duc. 4. Carl. English Obseruations HEeere follow some of the faculties which Espencaeus as we heard before bitterly complained of for that not only they daily past at Rome for money but were also granted vnto the Legats or Nuncio's that came from Rome to France who being Legati à latere comming forsooth euen from his own sweet side and bringing such blessings as these with them Extra Io 22. cap. cum inter in Gloss they shew vs what a blessed brest their Lord God the Pope beares about him out of which they suck such hatefull Henbane euen such pieces of filthy poyson which spiritually infected all the World for a time and diuers Nations yet to this day The reason why hee is heere so beneficiall and bountifull to Bastards is because they are so neere and deare in likenesse vnto himselfe both in his spirituall and carnall Kindred For first it is he which for diuers Ages past had almost destroyed the true spirituall Childe the Religion of God and fild the world with a false base and bastardly Religion Moreouer it 's he and his Instruments the Iesuits and other his shamelesse Censors who haue by their Indices Librorum Prohibitorij Expurgatorij partly as it were killed the true children by vtterly suppressing the true vndoubted bookes and writings of learned men and partly put base bastards in their roome by chopping and changing purging and painting them as if the Fathers were aliue againe they would not now bee able to know their owne and certainly many of them would absolutely refuse Ioh Ferus his Comment vpon S. Iohns Gospell is since the Author died reprinted at Rome and the Author is forbidden and it is altred in no lesse then 1000. places and with great indignity disclaime these that passe vnder their names as being none of theirs And thus the World by this bold wickednesse of theirs is fild with a base bastardly brood of false forged fained and counterfeit Bookes to the intolerable iniurie of the truth partly in peruerting and principally in suppressing it and to the irrepairable losse of learning if it bee not by the true Christian Church both timely and wisely preuented Besides where euer that bastardly Religion of his reignes it fils the world with carnall Bastards by denying and dishonouring holy Marriage by publique toleration of Whoredome and by making it a lesse sinne for their Clergy to lye with many wiues of other men then to haue one of their owne By this meanes not onely their Townes and Cities but their Colledges and Cloysters are fild with a doubtfull vncertaine and Bastardly Generation their owne Records and Histories were enough to make them blush on this behalfe if they were not past shame Nay so farre are they forsaken in this poynt and giuen ouer of God as it 's hard to tell not how many Whores and Women haue been Popes for doubtlesse there was but one but how many Bastards haue sitten euen in the Popes owne Chayre so deepe was the wisedome and so iust the iudgement of the high God by ioyning the spirituall and carnall Bastardie together so to punish the one with the other There was an Age Geneb in Chron. Bellar. de Ro. Pont. l. 4. c. 12. euen almost in the height of Poperie which Genebrard calls and Bellarmine acknowledgeth indoctum infaustum infoelix saeculum Diuers of the Popes of that Age were by their owne Bookes Bastards at the best if not worse Sure we are that one a Monks Bastard of Saint Albanes in England Hadrianus quartus and driuen by shame from the gates there proued at last a Pope at Rome and one of the proudest that euer sate there No maruell therefore if hee bee so louing and tender ouer Bastards for therein he is but kinde to his owne Kindred And indeed if he did not dispense and make vse of such he would not haue a Clergy sufficient to supply their places And touching the other instance in this Article of Dispensations by which these Bastards are inabled by this Romish power non obstantibus all
stand not in feare of any creature to controll them and seldome haue any great measure of feare of God before their face as they will easily pretend such inconueniences or else will make them if they bee not rather than want their will in that kinde Now if such men may be dispenced withall to take their Brothers wife sisters daughter nay the sister her selfe wee maruell not if so many of the great Ones of the world affect so much to haue the Pope their Father and their god seeing hee goes so farre beyond God in pleasing his Children for God with-holds no good thing from his Children But the Pope denyes nothing at all to his deare Children no not that which is most foule and abominable in the Law of God and nature And if any be so scrupulous to thinke it euill or feare it to be foule hee can make it good and faire by his Dispensation prouided that it be well payed for and my Lord the Datary foundly satisfied with a round composition for as grosse as these be yet bee they no Grosse matters but Duckets must drop fast and Angels must flye apace to purchase these Dispensations Be assured it cost Henry the Seuenth the setting on and Philip payde well for it in one kinde or other And no maruell if Kings be rated high when inferiours pay somtime six hundred Grosses that is forty fiue pounds which in those dayes was no small matter In the conclusion marke how plainely this wicked Antichrist shewes himselfe and how boldly hee blusters out his owne shame These Dispensations saith hee are not for poore men because they cannot reach the price Thou mayest be sure good Reader the Iesuites were not bred when this booke of Rates was set out for they would haue beene ashamed of such shallownesse thus to lay their intentions open to their captious enemies For they though they deale much lesse honestly yet much more closely But now their close conueyances will doe no good seeing already the Pope hath here and elsewhere in those elder and plainer times discouered those plots of pollicies which are the pillars of their Kingdomes so as now though the Iesuites with their refined wits doe neuer so cunningly carry their businesse and couch their secret intentions vnder counterfeit vayles yet the iniquity of that Romish Religion is now manifest to all that will open their eyes to see it For let them now cast twenty colours vpon the matter why the poorer sort are not as well partakers of these priuiledges as the great Ones wee know by this booke the true cause is onely for that they want wherewith to pay Nay the greatest haue them not vnlesse they pay full sweetly for them Henry the Seuenth was willing to haue canonized Henry the Sixth for a Saint but the Dispensation for his sonnes marriage cost him so deare as he had no stomacke to rise so high for his Predecessors Canonization as hee must doe if he had got it and so honest holy Henry though happily a Saint in heauen wanted his Romish Saintship and came short of being a Saint in the Popes Kalender To conclude wee haue heard our Fathers say it was a common phrase in their dayes No money no Masse No Penny no Pater-Noster Now wee maruell not the Romish Clergy held that rule seeing they here learned it of their holy Father who openly professeth he grants no Dispensations at all to them that are not able to pay for them nor any of this nature but at an high and exorbitant price And see how louingly hee giues the Proctors and Sollicitors warning of it who bring him in his Reuenew and bids them take heed lest they being Amici Curiae should damnifie themselues by such fruitlesse vndertakings And marke how this mercilesse man the Pope will not suffer the poore to bee partaker of his fauours they haue no money for him therefore hath hee no mercy for them Hereby declaring himselfe no friend nor follower of that God with whom is no respect of persons and of whom the Scripture saith The rich and the poore meet together Prou. 22.2 the Lord is the maker of them both Nor is it lastly to be omitted how prophanely the Pope heere abuseth the phrase of holy Scripture for these words Non sunt ideo non possunt consolari are the words of the Holy Ghost both in the Old and New Testament speaking literally of Rachel mourning for her Children and would not be comforted because they were not and are here prophanely peruerted to their couetous and carnall intention Neyther is this an vnusuall thing with them for like hereunto is that in their Canon Law where affirming the difference and distinction betwixt two Metropolitanes they say the one shall not intermeddle within the others Prouince quia Iudaei non conuersantum cum Samaritanis And too many more like examples their Schoole-men and Canonists doe afford all which declare the base conceit they hold of Gods holy Word in that they dare thus turne and tosse it vp and downe as children doe a ball or a shuttle-cocke from hand to hand But let these fooles play with this Candle till it burne them for when they haue done all that man or diuell can doe to vphold Popery it is This Word of God This breath of the Almighty This Spirit of his mouth that shall consume and confound it CHAP. V. Dispensations The Romish Text. A Dispensation that one excommunicate or that is a Murtherer or for a man or woman that are found hanged that they may be buryed in Christian buriall comes to 1. Duc. 9. Carl. 6. Grosses English Obseruations THe ancient Lawes and Canons not onely Ecclesiasticall but Ciuill forbid Christian buriall to all these three sorts of malefactors and Christian Religion well allowes such prohibition though not to hurt their soules yet to feare men from these foule offences But see to what little purpose for here the great Bumble-Bee or rather the Romish Hornet breakes thorow them all as thorow a Spiders webbe to increase his reuenue and fill his coffers And this is much the fouler in respect that in Jtaly there be so many murders where the least quarrell suspition or iealousie will cost a man his life Againe will not this make the peruerse the longer to persist excommunicate the malicious care lesse for murder and desperate fellons lesse for their owne liues when notwithstanding these great offences they may for money be buried with the best We appeale to God and his holy Angels if this bee not a full euidence of a most vnholy Church an vnsound religion and a loose licentious gracelesse gouernement CHAP. VI. The Romish Text. A Dispensation for one that entred into his Benefice by Simony that hee may notwithstanding still retaine the same his Dispensation will cost him 6. Ducats But if he haue receiued any profits of the liuing he must for them compound with the Datarie English Obseruations SImony hath beene the perpetuall shame of the Romane Church
and holy workes and which are of a publike and vniuersall goodnesse one cannot haue power to doe them but must pay for it we then maruell not if they pay for their liberty in priuate personall things as to choose his Confessor to marry in forbidden times to eate flesh in Lent to be freed from fasting daies and the like Yet it may seeme a hard and strange case that when a man may freely choose his Lawyer for his businesse and his Physicion for his body who he will yet he may not choose his Confessor for his soule without a round Composition But one question riseth here of so strange a nature that if our Quodlibeticall Masters of Cullen and Louane will not determine it I then wish that some of our deuout Catholicks who intend to trudge to Rome to the holy holy ioyfull Iubilee to gaine the glorious Indulgences of that happy yeere would carry this question with them propoūd it either to the Auditors of the Wheele or to the Fathers of the holy Society or if they will to the Colledge of Cardinals to know what holy Roman mysterie may be in the matter that a man cannot build a Church a Hospitall a Vniuersity but pay so deare for his Licence but may build a Stewe freely or twenty if he will Wee should be glad to know how his Holinesse will resolue this question But it 's yet more strange to vs that he dare impose so huge a fine as a thousand Grosses for making a Citie of a Towne and therein erecting a Bishops See for Bishoprickes are neuer barely erected but endowed also with faire Lands and large Possessions and those Lands come generally from the Laity but the Bishopricke which receiues those Lands belongs euer to the Clergy and yet must the Laity be it Prince Lord Citie or Towne that will thus fleece themselues to feede and fat the Popes Clergy giue a thousand Grosses to haue leaue to doe it so cunningly can the Pope play his game or rather into such a blinde obedience and sottish obsequiousnesse had they captiuated the World that he can make them glad to pay deare for weakning themselues and strengthning him to impouerish themselues and enriching him But we hope that England and Germany haue taught the world to be a little wiser hereafter Another point seemes also strange namely that he is content to grant a City Licence to coine their owne mony seeing that is alwayes Insigne Maiestatis a signe of Soueraignty and a prerogatiue which we haue seldome seene any King in the World would part withall on any tearmes yet fiue hundred Grosses will compasse it at Rome By which it appeares most of the Popes though they be aduanced to royall dignity and aduance themselues euen aboue the greatest Kings yet as they were born and bred basely so that basenesse will not easily bee worne or wrought out for otherwise they would shame to part with so faire a piece of their Prerogatiue Royall for a little money As for those other two particulars that during the Interdict of a Towne certaine great men or Officers may haue Seruice and Sacraments in a Chappell for 50. Grosses and that a Towne may haue power to take out of the Churches such as take Sanctuary therin for 60. Both which are absolutely against two ancient and fundamentall Rules of their owne Religion these afford vs an ample euidence how truly and iustly not only the Pasquils and Poets but euen the grauest sort of men complained and cryed out of her that Omnia venalia Romae All Lawes diuine and humane Gods their owne are daily bought and sold made and vnmade for money But here is one particular plungeth vs plaine people and puts vs all to Schoole namely that for money one may haue leaue to diuide a dead body in two to be buried in two places What meaning or Mystery may be in this we confesse will not enter into our grosse conceits seeing it is lawfull for euery man to dispose his body in buriall to one or moe places at his pleasure But thus it pleaseth the Pope euen thus vnreasonably to load the Laity that louing Asse which like old Isachar hath many yeers crouched groned betwixt the 2. burthens of the Secular Regular Romish Clergie But let no man trouble himself to inquire what Henry the 4. of France paid for diuiding his heart to the Iesuits and leauing his heartlesse carcasse to lie amongst the former French Kings for I dare say the Iesuits so loued both his head and his heart that to haue one of them off and the other out of his body they would not spare both to pay the price themselues and to bestow great cost vpon the buriall CHAP. XI Licences for the Clergie The Romish Text. A Licence for a Priest to say Masse in any place is rated at 27. Grosses A Licence for a Bishop to visit 40. Grosses To take to himselfe a yeeres proffits of euery vacant Benefice for 3. yeeres 50. Gross To exercise Episcopall Iurisdiction out of his Diocesse 30. or 40. Grosses To haue leaue to exact a Subsidie or a Beneuolence of his Clergie 20. Gross A Faculty to absolue all Delinquents and to dispence for Irregularity 40. Gross English Obseruations ANd heere good Reader vpon consideration of the generall nature of all these appeares more plainly the truth of that the obseruation vpon the former Chapter doth affirme if thou wilt but obserue and compare these Rates the Clergie payes for these extraordinary fauors with the price the Laity payes for those ordinary and common commodities of which also some doe serue the Clergies turne more then the Laities For to instance in a particular or two for a Bishop to haue a Licence to take a yeeres profit of euery vacant Benefice in his Diocesse or to haue leaue to exact a Subsidie or a beneuolence of all his Clergie how much the lesse of these may amount vnto I will not take vpon mee to set downe and if I would I cannot yet the Licence for the better of these ariseth but to 50. Grosses which is but some 4. pounds whereas for a Queene to haue Licence to adopt a Child must cost her 4000. which comes to 300 pound and when she hath it she thereby doth good to others but none to her selfe And for any of the Laity to haue leaue to erect an Vniuersity which is as much for the benefit of the Clergie as of the Laity must cost him 150. which is triple as much And to erect a Bishopricke which must be a huge charge to the Laity but the benefit redounds only to the Clergie must cost 1000. Grosses that is almost fourescore pounds such vnequall Iudges are they betwixt themselues and the poore Laity And is it not strange presumption to make a King both aske leaue and pay deare for a Licence that he may take a Contribution of his Clergy that be his owne Subiects and so lightly to giue leaue to the
Bishops to exact it of the Clergie who bee but their Brethren Thus these men do boldly shew themselues the true Successors of the Jewish Clergie for as we see heere they corporally as well as spiritually lay heauy burthens vpon others but make them most light and easie to themselues Now touching these particulars that a Priest may haue a power or a Licence to say Masses in all places for 27. Grosses is euen cheape enough and yet it had not beene so much but that they well know hee is able to bring that in againe in a weeke nay in a day and happly in halfe an houre But will some say What may it cost him to haue a Licence to preach in all places The Answer is easie There 's no such Licence at all to bee obtain'd on any conditions for preaching of Gods Word is no pillar of the Popes Kingdome but contrariwise for diuers hundreth yeeres hath beene either persecuted or prohibited or at least so limited altered and ordered that the Iesuits and some few such haue a Monopoly of it to themselues so as not one Priest of a thousand gets any Licence at all and they that doe haue their times their matter their Method and order and almost all other circumstances prescribed vnto them and they are all directed to sing this one song that howsoeuer preaching may be of some vse in Lent and now then vpon occasions yet it 's nothing so excellent in it selfe nor so profitable to the people though it be neuer so plaine and powerfull as is the hearing of a Masse though in an vnknowne tongue and if any bee so bold as to make comparison and to say otherwise as Father Lobo did once before Pope Gregory the 13. Vide Recantationem Martini 〈◊〉 he is sure to be silenced for his labour all the dayes of his life as was the foresaid Fryer As to the next point that a Bishop should pay 40. Grosses for a Licence to visit is nothing so strange to vs as that he should pay any thing at all for what 's a Bishop if he haue not power of himselfe to visit euen by his Consecration and admission to bee Bishop But this shewes that to be true we haue often heard and read euen that the Bishops in Popery are indeed and truth no better then slaues to the Pope who as at the first they haue by Romish Rules their very being from him as his Creatures and the worke of his hands so he expects that they should serue him his turns in all things to which end he will not so much as haue them to moue or stirre no not to keepe their Visitation which is their owne proper motion and in their own Orbe vntill first they haue their licence and authority from him It seemes this wicked Antichrist who dare call himselfe a Vice-God vpon earth doth labour herein to be like vnto God of whom Religion teacheth that In him we l ue and moue and haue our being Act. 17.28 But for the third Branch wherein hee giues them leaue for money to take a yeeres profit of euery vacant Benefice therein he shewes his shamefull iniustice and partiality not caring it seemes how so he may enrich himselfe and his Clergye for not to stand vpon the quantity how great a matter this must needs amount vnto that which most amazeth vs is the foulnesse of the meanes and manner by which it is gotten for to keepe a Benefice vacant for a yeere and take the profits to himselfe as it first must needs bee a piece of personall iniustice to the next Incumbent to whom of right they doe belong so can it not but be a farre fouler and more generall iniustice to make the people for his base lucre sake to want a Pastor for so long a time Is this to be a Bishop a feeder a Pastor of Soules yea a Pastor of them that are the Pastors of Soules Alas for that miserable people who are fed w th such Pastors And here we may obserue 1. good reason of that bitter word of learned Espencaeus who speaking of this Book affirmes that it will teach a man to be naught though he were not or would not be of himselfe for verily not one Bishop of ten could be so basely couetous or so presumptuously wicked of himselfe as once to dreame of taking to himselfe a yeeres profit of euery vacant Benefice in his Diocesse But lest hee should want either wickednes or wit to entertain so base a thought his spirituall Master Extra Io. 22. cap. cam â—â—â—â—â—m gâ—â— his Lord god the Pope heere takes order to instruct him in it not onely telling him that he may haue a Licence to doe it for money but also lest he should be discouraged by the greatnesse of the price for so great a fauor he tels him aforehand it shall cost him but 50. Grosses though happly he may get by it 50000. in some one yeere Alas what a lamentable case it is to see the Christian World blinded and mis-led by such wicked rauenous Wolues vnder the name and faire title of Pastors of the Church for if this tricke and practice of the Pope and his Clergie be not an euident signe of men giuen ouer to their own lusts and slaues to filthy lucre and such as care not to sell the very soules of men to feede themselues and fill their owne purses wee appeale to the iudgement of all reasonable men yea euen of all honest Papists in the world and so we leaue them to the iudgement of the high and iust God and were it not that we hold them to be the publique enemies of God our soules would grieue to thinke of the confusion which we are sure and the surer by this one practice of theirs doth infallibly wait for them And for the next Branch that for a Bishop to exercise Episcopall Iurisdiction out of his Diocesse must cost him 30. or 40. Grosses we also say the quality of the fauor considered its cheape enough nor doe wee maruell if the Pope deale so tenderly and kindly with them whom hee holds members of his owne body But that which would trouble any honest heart is to consider how hee that pretends to bee and makes the poore Papist beleeue he is the Vicar of Christ the Father of the Church and the great Shepheard of Soules and consequently vnder God the great establisher of all good Order the keeper of all men in compasse and good order should thus in stead of Order make way to all confusion by confounding of Iurisdictions and giuing leaue for one to encroach vpon another which appeares by this that is to be done euery day at Rome for money though in all well gouerned Churches it is neuer done at all but vpon very speciall consideration and neuer at all for money But for the last that a Bishop may haue a faculty to absolue all Delinquents yea and to dispense in the case of irregularity for
tue epitilatu victi fugentur fauente Domino nostro Iesu Christo Ibid. fol. 96. Versus Sancti Bernardi but sure they might better call them Versus Diaboli for howsoeuer to vs they bee of the holy Ghosts inspiring and Dauids penning yet to them they be of the Diuels choosing and commending Well let them thus learne both their Doctrines and deuotions from the Diuell wee for our parts enuy them not it sufficeth vs to bee of the number of those the Prophet speakes of They shall be all taught of God Moreouer this is that Booke wherein Saints and Angels are not entreated to pray for them to God but there are Prayers directed to them with these Titles A Prayer to Saint Gabriel a Prayer to S. Raphael c. and the same things are therein cal'd for of them which Christians doe of God take one Example I beseech thee thou excellent Prince Gabriel thou valiant Champion rise vp in my defence against the wicked be on my side against my enemies and all that worke iniquity discouer their crafty plots confound their power that all who oppose me may be put to slight by thy assistance with the fauour of our Lord Jesu Christ There is also a Prayer to thy proper Angell and another to the 1000. Virgins another to all both Hee-Saints and Shee-Saints and there is also a Prayer or else two that are farre more excellent then the Lords Prayer I am not willing to bee trusted in so strange a report let the Reader Iudge by the words themselues Ibid. fol. 55. This Prayer was shewed to Saint Bernard by the messenger of God saying that as gold is the most precious of all other mettle so exceedeth this Prayer all other Prayers and who that deuoutly saith it shall haue a singular reward of our blessed Lady and her sweet Sonne Iesus Then followes a Prayer to the Virgin Mary which thus begins Aue Maria Ancilla Trinitatis c. and though it bee a long Prayer yet is it all to that blessed creature the holy Virgin and not one word to God Lo heere is a Prayer to a Creature more excellent then any to God and a Prayer made by a man as farre more precious then the Lords Prayer as gold is then lead You may do well to tell your Confessors or if you will the grand Penitentiary at Rome that wee poore condemned Heretickes of England aske them vpon their consciences what kind of Diuinity and deuotion this is for our parts wee would account him a Blasphemer that should say so amongst vs. There is also another Prayer of which this strange report is made in that Booke Ibid fol. 50. This Prayer shewed our Lady to a deuout person saying that this golden Prayer is the most sweetest and acceptablest to mee and in her appearing shee had this salutation and Prayer written with Letters of gold in her brest Then followes a Prayer to the same holy Virgin beginning thus Aue Rosa siue Spinis c. Here is another piece of rare Diuinity and Deuotion that the holy Virgin should recommend a Prayer made by a man and to her selfe alone as more excellent in it selfe and acceptable to her then the Psalmes that were dictated by the holy Ghost and all the Prayers made to God himselfe Lastly in this Booke there is a Prayer where God is made Mediator to a Creature nay to a silly VVoman S. Sithe euen such a one as wee are not sure whether she euer was or no The words are so strange as it 's pitty but they should bee knowne For first they pray to her to prepare the glory of Heauen for them which she hath merited Aue Sitha famula Sancta Iesu Christi para nobis gloriam quam tu meruisâ—i Our Bibles teach vs that God the Father prepared the glory of Heauen and Christ Iesus purchased it for vs But here is Romish Catholike Diuinity which teacheth vs we may haue them both another way for S. Sithe both prepares it payes for it Then followes such a Prayer as all the Lutherans and Caluinists cannot shew the like for thus goe the words O God who didst honor the blessed Virgin Sithe Deus qui beatam Sitham Virginem famulam tuam in ipsius vita multis miraculis decorasti te suppliciter exoramus vt omnes qui in tuo nomine ab ea postulant auxilium eius obtentu apud te sibi sentiant opportunum per Christum Dominum Taeter noster Jbid. fol. 26. thy seruant with many miracles in her life we humbly beseech thee that all those who in thy name doe seeke helpe of her may by her meanes finde it seasonably to themselues from thee by Christ Christian Religion teacheth vs to pray to God in the name of Christ but heere is a Religion teacheth to pray to Saint Sithe in the name of God Iudge good Reader if heere God be not made a Mediator to a Creature Thus haue I giuen you yee Romish Catholikes a full taste of the dainties laid vp for you in this Booke If these bee all lyes falshoods and fooleries then see with what food your fore-fathers were fed and learne what to iudge of those Popes Pastors Teachers and Confessors that thus gaue them Scorpions in stead of Bread and see how foulely the Romane Church erred which for many ages allowed this Book by publike authority But if these be true then see what a braue thing it is to be a Papist who vpon such easie condition can purchase such Pardons procure such Jndulgences to himselfe to others both for body and soule both for this life and for Purgatory both for the penalty and for sinne it selfe nay for deliuerance not onely from Purgatory but from Hell No maruell verily if so many beleeuing this doe become Papists and certainly wee were worse then Heretickes and worthy to bee damned deeper in Hell then Julian and Judas if wee beleeuing this did not presently turne Romane Catholicks And all this thus presupposed wee must needs confesse these prices for these Indulgences very cheape if they were much dearer for suppose they haue the power of giuing these Indulgences but a few yeeres nay but one and pay 20. 40. if it were 100. Grosses for the same no great matter nay a very good Bargain and a quick Market seeing it's likely enough so much and more may bee gathered in againe in one weeke as will pay for the whole yeeres rent And whereas many amongst vs out of ignorance of these Romish secrets and some out of charitable construction beleeued not they euer allowed such Indulgences for so many thousands of yeeres and for remission of all or halfe or a part of a mans sinnes now comes the Pope in this Book satisfies vs to the full that such Merchandises are common in the Romish Market and that the Popes Exchange is neuer empty of them And so indulgent and fauourable a Father is the Pope as he will not
left he God his Iustice entire But these men incroach vpon his Iustice also and so amongst them they haue made a god who hath neither Iustice nor mercy But what care they They haue a Lord god at Rome and all their care is to keepe his Crowne safe his Prerogatiue entire and his power vnbounded for so long they are sure their Free-hold shall neuer be toucht But if they meane no more by sinne in this place but the penance which themselues doe politiquely impose vpon their Penitents then what a noyse is here about nothing and how grossely is the good honest Reader gul'd and abused with a shadow for a substance For 1. the plaine-meaning man is made to beleeue that in such a Church or Chappell on such and such not vnreasonable conditions hee may gaine remission of the third part of his sinne And presently both his Religion and reason tell him that there is no doubt but in another place as good as that hee may purchase another third and in another the third remaining and so consequently be fully discharged of all his sinnes for he knowes well the Temple of Jerusalem is abolished and since then no Church nor Chappell hath any holinesse blessing Indulgence or power giuen it by God or man which another may not haue He therefore reading this is fild with hope and surprized with ioy as knowing now the place where the meanes whereby and conditions wherupon he can readily purchase pardon of all his sinnes But alas when the matter comes to due tryall see how the good soule is deluded when in stead of the forgiuenesse of his sinne he must be contented with an abatement of a Portion of that Penance which his crafty Confessor imposed vpon him which if it were iustly moderately and orderly laid on him then as a wholesome medicine it 's better all taken then any part forborne but if vnworthily and vniustly why then should hee pay any thing for hauing it abated But thus we see here as in many cases more how the Romish Strumpet mocks and deceiues her poore Children She cals them to her as to the true Church but they finde her a Synagogue She professeth to be their louing Mother but proues a cruell Step-dame She promiseth them the pure Manna of Gods Word but feeds them with Legends lyes tales and traditions She flourisheth with no fewer then seuen Sacraments and yet they cannot haue one as Christ ordained it She tels them of Generall Councels gouerned by the holy Ghost and they proue priuate Conuenticles complotted called concluded and wholly carried and guided by her selfe And here good Soules she makes them beleeue they shall haue forgiuenesse of their sinnes and it proues no more but remission of a piece of the Penance her Priests had laid vpon them O what pity is it that so good Children should not haue a better Mother and what shame is it she should thus play fast and loose with them who trust their soules into her hands and that shee dare thus dally in cases of Conscience But leauing these seduced soules to better aduised thoughts and wiser wayes vnlesse they haue resolued to runne into their owne ruine for our parts that are but by-standers and lookers on as we can but pity and pray for them so can we not but laugh at her to see how craftily she layes about her on both sides for first shee keepes it in her power to inioyne them and lay vpon them what penance she pleaseth on the other side she takes vpon her to dispence commute lessen or abate as she sees cause and as her Penitents shall please her in the payment Now verily if she can first lay it on as she list and then take it off againe when shee is pleased we maruell not she hath made her selfe so strong and gain'd so great a power ouer the blind and ignorant World of Romish Papists CHAP. XIII EXEMPTIONS The Romish Text. An Exemption of a Monastery of Friers Minors from the Iurisdiction of their Prouinciall will cost 30. Gross To bee exempted from the Iurisdiction of the Bishop during his time will cost 50. Gross And if the Abbot will haue withall a Licence to weare a Miter it must cost him saith Iohn the 22 100. Gross Of a Bishop frō the Iurisdiction of his Metropolitan during his life is rated at 50. Gross Of a Parochiall Church from the Bishops Iurisdiction 20. Gross Of the Parson of a Parish from the power of his Ordinary during a suite is rated at 20. Gross Of an Hospitall from payment of Subsidie 20. Gross Of a Towne from the payment of any Impositions 60. Gross Of a priuate person for the same 30. Gross Also in the Rate-booke of Pope Iohn the 22. there is found an exemption of a Monastery the Couent taxed at 300. Gross English Obseruations ALl good Law-giuers and wise States-men Christian or Heathen euer held it as a rule that good Order is the life of a Common-wealth and that subordination is the very life of all good order insomuch as where there is no subordination that is some to command and some to obey there all good ordet is decayed and disorder and confusion crept in and consequently disipation and destruction Thence it is that both all worthy Commanders in warre and all wise Gouernours in peace were such strict obseruers of all not only politicke Constitutions but euen Martiall Discipline that tended to maintaine the authority of Superiours and to nourish obedience in the Inferiours that no money nor reward nay no neerenesse in nature nor bond of blood could procure Exemption or Priuiledge in this case How famous are the ancient Romane and Grecian Generals for executing their martiall Lawes not only vpon their most valiant Souldiers but euen their worthiest commanders and Leaders nay their owne sonnes if they transgressed the rules and orders of the Army or went beyond the bounds and limits of their places Nay their wisedome would not allow them to doe a piece of good seruice if it were done out of order or contrary to any publique command and if any did so he were sure first to bee rewarded for his good seruice valorous exploit but as sure to be punished for his presumption and transgression though in some cases the Penalty were no lesse then death it selfe The wel-aduised Readers know that the Histories afford vs plenty of examples in this kind One of Alexander the Great is most remarkable howsoeuer held by some to bee a hard piece of Iustice who sayling on a time in Tygris with diuers Princes and great Lords it chanced his Royall Diadem fell from his head into the Riuer where being in danger to be lost a Sailer that could swimme cast himselfe into the water and notwithstanding the fiercenesse of that streame aduentured his life to saue his Soueraignes Diadem and hauing recouered it and not being able to bring it in his hand being of necessity to vse both hands to saue his life hee
a mortall and capitall sinne in the Court of Conscience before God Anno 1. E. 6. cap. 12. but also punished with no lesse than death in our exteriour Courts of Iustice And that with so great seuerity as some helpes of life allowed by our Lawes to other Fellons are vtterly denyed to the Church-robber * In Saint Andrewes in Holborne the common Prayer-booke was stolne and the Fellon was condemned for it And some haue dyed in our times for things of small value onely because it was Sacriledge Therefore how great wrong they doe vs thus to censure vs and how vniustly they challenge to themselues to be the onely holy Church let God and his Angels and all good men iudge betwixt vs seeing with them 7. Grosses will suffice for Sacriledge which among vs is euer punished with no lesse than death And if a Priest may steale the goods of the Church and then be absolued for 7. Grosses when happely he hath sacrilegiously stoln more neere to 700. we must needes say with Espencaeus that a tolerable man may by this booke learne to be naught and an ill man to be much worse CHAP. II. For reuealing of Confession The Romish Text. An Absolution for him that reueales another mans Confession is taxed at 7. Grosses English Obseruations TOuching Confession to Man howsoeuer Gods Church knowes no reason to enioyne it to bee practized by all Christians as is the Popish Auricular Confession because it s simply necessary to saluation to confesse to God but to man not so Yet our Church and Doctrine not onely allow but aduise and exhort all men to vse it euen to man for their consolation or direction when they finde cause And we deny not but it may be of great vse and hath euer beene practized in Gods true Church by such as tendred the quiet state of their owne soules And we doubt not but many doe grieuously burthen their consciences and carry sore troubled and full heauy hearts about them because they doe not open their mindes and discouer the spirituall state of their soules vnto their godly Pastors whose duty by our Doctrine is not only readily louingly and patiently to heare them but with all his power and best skill to direct aduise and comfort them and most faithfully to keep secret whatsoeuer is thus in confession made knowne to them as Ministers of God especially if it be a blemish to the party confessing vnlesse eyther the penitent giue him leaue to discouer it or that it be a matter of blood or some enormious euill to be committed for preuention whereof it may and ought yet with great caution and discretion be discouered to the Magistrate Now the Romish Church makes vse of this as one of her principall stratagems whereby to know the hearts and dispositions of all men and women especially the Princes and great Ones of this world And howsoeuer to bring them on the better to confesse freely and fully they make a shew that the Seale of Confession is not to be violated but most strictly and sacredly to be obserued yet this strictnesse they keepe in their owne power like St. Wilfrids Needle to inlarge or restraine at their pleasure or as shall make for the good of the Catholique cause Therefore on the one side when it makes for them the Popes and Popish Princes haue by the Conduit of confession beene made priuy to the purposes of such great Princes as walking in their simplicity did freely impart their mindes to their Confessors who like good soules little feared any false measures in so holy a businesse as Confession And on the other side when it makes against them to open it then the Seale is sacred and then all the world must perish rather than it be violated And therupon * Delrio disquis mag 〈◊〉 3 â—iâ— Câ—aâ— 1. Sect. 2. Delrio the Spanish Iesuite concludes that Garnet hauing knowledge of the Powder-treason in Confession long before the execution was bound to conceale it and so suffer it to come to passe not careing though it concerned the Kings life and all his Issue and thousands with them and the safetie of the whole Kingdome Thus can they fight on both sides And by these meanes no maruell if their Kingdome haue stood so long and if they doe such strange things as they doe dayly And here let the world consider and wisely obserue what is it in all the Popish world that the Pope or Spanish King may not know at their pleasure seeing to that end they haue many apt Instruments especially the Iesuits and Capuchins and so many fit Engines with this two-handed sword of Auricular Confession And to shew how little they care for the keeping safe of this Seale when they list to breake it it appears in that the Iesuites who be the refined Papists are in many places almost the sole Confessors So as it was complayned of in France that the Confessionall places of Parishes were left desart and those of the Iesuites so thronged as one could hardly haue a roome there And what vse they make of it and how safely they keepe it is manifest by the Register found at Venice vpon their late expulsion wherein they carefully recorded the secret Confessions of all great persons and so most wickedly made vse of such things to their wicked ends as in all honesty ought to haue beene eyther buried in obliuion or at least supprest in silence And if there were no record in the world to this purpose there needs no more euidence than this which is their owne euen the price of his absolution who eyther by drunkennes or carelesnesse or corruption or vpon any other knauish ground haps to reueale it which seeing it is so far their own as they little thoght we should euer haue knowne it it concerns vs the more to make much of it For it may giue vs and the world good cause to wonder at their wickednes and hatefull hypocrisie so seriously to commend to the people as a sacred holy matter that Confession which themselues account of so lightly and so slightly as that the Absolution for the breach of it shall cost the Villaine but 7. Grosses who rather deserued 7. Halters And howsoeuer these Censorious Pharises disgrace and disparage vs yet I dare say that Minister amongst vs who should so far forget himselfe and the honour of his Calling as to discouer the secret Confession of any Penitent who powred out his soule into his bosome should be so far from passing with the leane punishment of 7 Grosses as hee would rather bee iudged vnworthy of his place and held hatefull amongst his fellowes and vnfit for the society not only of Christians but euen of ciuill men CHAP. III. For polluting and prophaning of Churches The Romish Text. An Absolution for him who lyes with a Woman in the Church and there commits other enormities is rated at the price of 6. Grosses English Obseruations ALl Christians nay most of the