their Protection to a Protestant-State against a Catholick Prince Had your Politicks been known in the World those Princes would not have become guilty of what you think a great crime That a King should defend a State professing a Religion different from his own against a Prince who is of the same Religion with him If this Maxim comes once to establish'd you may very well fear that the most Christian King having his Eves open'd by your illuminations and following your example may withdraw his Protection from Geneva that so he may avoid the Reproach which may be made to him of having succour'd a City of the Huguâ—not-Persuasion against a Prince of his own Religion From this you may also take this further measure That the implicite affection which you have for the Dutch does expose you as also the Protestant-Cantons and your Allies to an evident danger of not receiving any more assistance from his most Christian Majesty against a Catholick Prince or State If it should ever happen that you were concern'd in such a War the plausible pretence of Zeal for Religion would prove very prejudicial to you in depriving you of the Assistance of the most Christian King who certainly is the greatest or to say better the only Support and Refuge that you can have Your Injustice therefore and your Ingratitude are so much the greater in as much as you cannot deny but that France has many times openly given its Protection to the Protestants in opposition to the Catholicks You know That for a long time it assisted the Dutch against the King of Spain even before there was any open War between the Two Crowns You know also That France gave an Overt Protection to the Protestant-Princes of Germany against the Emperour who had already devested several of them of their Dominions and would under the pretence of Religion become Master of all Germany The late King Lewis XIII made an Alliance with the King of Swedâ—n against the House of Austria and got that Prince to come out of the remoter Parts of the North to oppose the Ambitious Designs of that House to raise up the oppressed Princes â—nd to defend the Liberty of the Empire After the Death of Gustavus Adolphus France did again joyn its Arms with those of his Successors and the Generals of that Great King in a continuance of its Protection to the Protestants and for the re establishing of those Princâ—s in their Territories who had been dispossess'd of them But on the contrary the House of Austria had the greatest part of its Alliancâ—s with the Catholicks against the Protestants 'T was upon this that the Adherents of the Emperour and the King of Spain took occasion to publish Libels against the most Christian King whom they accus'd of being a Protector of Hereticks and fighting for them against the Interests of the Catholick Religion And yet all those Accusations which were put up against France upon that score obstructed not its persisting in the stipulations it had made to its Allies and continuing its Protection to the Protestants against the Violence of the Emperour who endeavour'd to oppress them Nay the King of France is in a manner the only Catholick Prince who allows the Protestants the Exercise of their Religion in his Dominions whereas the King of Spain would never Tolerate in his the Exercise of any other Religion than the Catholick And the Emperour has forc'd all the Protestants out of his Hereditary Countries And both the Emperour and the King of Spain think it highly meritorious in the sight of God to be the irreconcileable Enemies and implacable Persecutors of those whom they call Hereticks In the mean Reverend Sir it appears by your deportment That lâ—t the Protestants be never so transcedently oblig'd to his most Christian Majesty they should so little mind it as that the only resentment they have should have no other object than the Calamities which the Dutch endure by the War wherein he is now engag'd against them Your Compassion is so great for their Misery that you think you have a dispensation to forget all the Kindnesses which the most Christian King hath done to those of the Reformed Religion and not so much as to reflect on those he may yet do you in giving you assistance against your Enemies In a word your Bowels do so yearn for those poor Brethren of yours the Dutch that provided their preservation be secur'd you do not much concern your self what may become of you and all those of the Reformed Religion You are so blindly infatuated upon this subject that provided you demonstrate your good Inclinations for the Dutch you seem to be indifferent that you are thought a bad Huguenot and most wretched Politician The Dutch certainly are the best Politicians in the World for things relating to Religion which they never made any other Use of then that of accommodating it to the Interests of State Nay they have alwaies been so little concern'd at the danger of those who profess'd the same Reformed Religion that they made no scruple at all of entring into a War for their destruction upon the pure score of Money Of which take this instance I think you need not be inform'd Reverend Sir how that the Dutch sent a certain number of Ships to the most Christian King for the reinforcing of his Fleet by which Rochell was then block'd up That was indeed a War upon the pure score of Religion in which the most Christian King was engag'd against his Subjects to get out of their hands the fortify'd places which they were possess'd of and would keep to secure the observance of the Edicts and the Exercise of their Religion All the whole party of the Reformed-Religion in France were afraid That as soon as the King should have taken Rochell he would abrogate the Edict of Nantes and absolutely take away the Exercise of the Calvinisticall Religion All the other Reformed Princes and States had the same apprehension insomuch that publick prayers were made in all parts for the preservation of Rochell as a City on which depended the safety of all those of the Reformed Religion in France They had the same thoughts in the Vnited Provinces and prayers were made to God in all Churches that he would be graciously pleaâ—d to preserve Rochell as the impregnable Fort of those of the Reformed Religion And yet the Dutch made no scruple of hiring out Ships for money to the then most Christian King to promote the Destruction of a City which according to the apprehensions of all the World was certainly to have consequent thereto that of our Reformed Religion and of all those who profess'd it in the Dominions of France Was there ever seen any example of so detestable an impiety That a State which makes a boast of being of the Reformation should have made no Conscience for money of contributing to the Ruine of a great People who make profession of the same Religion and that at
THE RELIGION OF THE DUTCH Represented in Several LETTERS FROM A Protestant Officer IN The FRENCH ARMY to A Pastor and Prâ—â—â—â—â—â— of Divinity at BERNE in Swisâ—erland Out of the French LONDON Printed for Samuel Heyrick at Grayes-Inn Gate in Holbourn 1680. The Contents of the LETTERS THE First Letter discovers by what means and upon what motives the Reformed Religion according to the Calvinistical way was establish'd in the United Provinces The Second and Third give an account of all the different Religions that are in those Provinces and their principal Opinions The Fourth and Fifth prove That the United Provinces cannot be said to be an Estate of the Reformed Religion The Sixth makes it appear That though the Dutch were the most Reformed Christians in the World yet were it an act of temerarious Imprudence in those of the Reformed Religion to Confederate together for their Relief in the War between Them and the most Christian King And that of the Protestant-Cantons of Swisserland those were highly to be blam'd which refus'd to raise Forces for his most Christian Majesty as was also that of Berne which having granted his most Christian Majesty a Regiment kept so much stir to hinder its Serving against the Dutch THE RELIGION OF THE DUTCH The First LETTER Reverend Sir THough I have alwaies known and look'd upon you as a most zealous man in the Calvinistical persuasion yet I should never have imagin'd that your zeal would have transported you so far as to induce you to pronounce an Anathema against all those of the Reformed Religion who now serve the most Christian King in the War wherein he is engag'd against the Dutch Mean time you know that you have run into this strange Extremity in the Letter you were pleas'd to write from Borne of the 15 th of the last Moneth which yet came not to my hands till within these two daies You at the first dash tell me it is a matter you cannot be sufficiently astonished at That any Officer who makes Profession of our Religion whether he be Swisse or French or of what other Countrey soever should presume to fight against our dear Brethren in Christ the Dutch and make it their Business to destroy that Sanctifi'd Republick which has alwaies been the Refuge and Sanctuary of those of the Reformed Religion and to which all Protestants are in the highest manner oblig'd You afterwards make it your most earnest entreaty to us That out of the tenderness we ought to have of our Salvation we should quit our Employments and enter our Selves into the Service of the Dutch so to expiate the Sin we have committed in serving against them You solemnly declare to us in Fine That if we do not upon sight follow this advice of yours we are a sort of damn'd Wretches never to be retriev'd out of the deplorablâ— Condition we are in and that we ought not to expect any Forgivâ—ness for our Crime either in this World or that to come no more or less than if we had sinn'd against the Holy Ghost As for your Protestant-Cantons you highly celebrate the Prudence of those among'st them who havâ— deny'd his Majesty of France any Forces in his unjust War as you are pleas'd to call that wherein he is now involv'd against the Dutch Besides you highly condemn those who having supply'd him with such Forces have not been importunate in the recalling of them and have not been dissatisfi'd to see them employ'd in attacking and maintaining the Cities which have been taken from the States-General I should not have been much startled if I had receiv'd such a Letter from the Minister of some Country Village or from some person whose abilities rais'd him not above the ordinary Rate of men But I must acknowledge my self surpriz'd as much as man can be so to see that you Reverend Sir who are a Professor of Divinity and have the reputation of being one of the most experiensed men of Swisserland especially upon the score of Politicks should write me a Letter fraught with things very strange and extravagant and Maximâ—s absolutely inconsistent with sound Sence and Reason and contrary even to the end you have propos'd to your self which is doubtless the preservation and propagation of our Reform'd Religion and of the Churches which profess it I undertake to make a clear justification of the truth of the things which I advance and to let you see the Mistake you lye under and with what injustice you have so slightly pronounc'd the Sentence of Condemnation against all those of the Reform'd Religion who serve the most Christian King in the War which he is now concern'd in against the Dutch To that end it is my design to shew you somewhat at large of what nature the Religion of the Dutch is and what sanctity is to be attributed to their Republick and thence it will appear how highly the Protestants are concern'd to wish the preservation of it And when that is done I shall afterwards prove That though the Hollanders were the most reform'd of all People in their Religion as well as in their morality yet you would not have any reason to condemn either those private Persons of their Persuasion who serve against them or yet those of your Cantons who have supply'd the most Christian King with Forces upon this occasion I must acknowledge That if we consider the Dutch Confession of Faith and the Cathechism they use it cannot be denyed but that they profess the same Religion with that which is received at Geneva and in your Protestant-Cantons But in the mean time this is to be noted That though they make an external Profession of the same Religion with yours yet their Conduct and Deportment do evidently demonstrate that they make not any account of it or that they believe it not at all To that end it is requisite that I make a higher enquiry into things and go to the very source and give you a discovery by what Degrees and by what Means this Religion was established in the State and the different Conduct which the States-General have observ'd in reference thereto I am of opinion in the first place That there is not any necessity of my telling you that Religion was neither the cause nor the pretence of the disturbances revolutions and seditions of the Low-Countries and that it was not upon that score that the People of several Provinces after they had carried on the War against their Prince for many years resolv'd at last to degrade him and to shake off the yoke of his Dominion over them The great Lords of the Country as the Prince of Orange the Count of Egmont and Count Horne were extreamly exasperated to see that Cardinal de Granvelle a Forreigner and a person of very obscure Parentage had the management of all things and was the supreme Arbitrator of all Affairs and to think that they themselves had not any authority in the Government They maintained in the mean
us of the weakness of our little Flock and discover the great number of Enemies whom we should have to do withal I am satisfy'd That a great number of good Soldiers might be got out of your Canton and the other Protestant Cantons But I humbly conceive you will not be offended if I tell you That if Jesus Christ himself were upon Earth and had occasion for the assistance of your Forces you would not let him have any unless he would be sure to see you well paid for them and that he should not prevail so far with you as that for his sake you would abolish the Proverb which you have brâ—ught into Vogue Point dâ—argent point de Suisse Mo Money no Swisse or as the English Saying has it 'T is Money makes the Mare to go And that it thus happen'd is well known when the Chimerical Ambassador of the Dutch had under-hand sollicited your Cantons and had afterwards been admitted into your Assembly Conjuring and beseeching you by the love you ought to have for your dear Brethren not to abandon them in their Necessities and to maintain their Cause which was that of Jesus Christ You know very well that all he could get of you in your Diet was That you had resolved one should be assembled for their sakes that you would spare some few repâ—sts observe a Fast and pray for their Preservation and Prosperity That if it were a Warre upon the score of Religion whatever Zeal you might have for ours the Catholick Cantons having no less â—or theirs we should find more Soldiers running out of the Catholick Cantons to maintain the Party of their Religion than there wâ—uld be Protestants ready to defend the Interests of ours And as to the quality of the Soldiers of Swisserland if a computation may bâ— made of it by the Success of two Wars one wherâ—oâ— you had about 140 years ago and the other about 18 yâ—â—rs since I am conâ—ident you cannot deny but that the Catholick Soldiers are much better than all those of your Protestant Cantons Nay the Catholicks would have this advantage that their Pay would easily come out of the Exchequers of Kings and Princes if the Dispute were about the defence of their Religion Whereas yours not finding any Protestant-Prince who were able to bear the charge of them should be forc'd to keep in your own Country and content themselves with the making of Vows for the preservation of our Religion Nay I do not think that all the Princes or States of the Reformed Religion in Europe would be able all together and do their utmost to keep up an Army of Ten Thousand men when the safety of our Religion lay at stake I do not speak of the Lutherans because the greatest part amongst them have such an animosity against us as loudly to affirm That they would rather enter into the Communion of the Catholicks than into Ours If again on the other side you consider how many Kings Sovereign Princes Republicks and States there are in Europe who all profess the Romish Religion you may all imagine That as we are but a small handful in comparison of them so there is not any likelihood that we should be able to resist them if they were once engag'd in a War against us Nay if it were an open and declar'd War upon the account of Religion you would soon find the Emperour and the King of Spain deserting the party of the Dutch and siding with that of their own Religion The Catholicks have yet another most considerable advantage which would extreamly corroboratâ— their Party against ours They have the Pope whom they all acknowledg to be the visible Head of the Church upon Earth who reunites them all for their Common Interest and would with much more Zeal publish a Croisado against us then ever he did any against the Turks And indeed he has reason to have a greater animosity against us than against all the unbelieving people in the World As he pretends to be the Spiritual Head of all Christians so he considers those who do not acknowledg him as revolted Subjects and Rebels to his Empire whereas he looks on the Turks and Heathens as Strangers who are out of his Jurisdiction and not within the extent of his Superintendency And as a King is more incens'd against his Subjects who have revolted from the obedience they owe him then against forreign Enemies who are not within the Verge of his Dominions So the Pope suffers the Jews in his Territories and would never permit any of the Reformed Persuasion to harbour in them His Pontifical Dignity will not suffer him ever to be reconcil'd to those who directly shock the authority which he pretends to have over all Christians You may see by this the great danger into which those of our Religion would be reduc'd if your Zeal could enflame them so far as to make a Party in favour of the Dutch Nay I leave it to your own Judgment whether it is any fault of yours if your inconsiderate Zeal has not excited the Catholicks to fall upon those of our Reformed Religion in those places where they lye expos'd to their mercy and that they have not made it their business to exterminate them But if your Zeal without Knowledg be injurious to all those of the Reformed Religion in general it is also very prejudicial to all your own Protestant-Cantons and to your Allies in particular Assoon as ever you saw the first breaking out of this War You your self Reverend Sir in the City of Berne and all your Ministers within the Extent of your Government were continually cajoling the people by their Seditious Sermons to make an Insurrection against those of your Magistrates who had given their judgment That there should be a Regiment of men granted to the most Christian King out of your Canton If men would have believ'd you and all the Ministers of your Country-Villages it must have been accounted a very horrid Crime in you to suffer your Soldiers to be employ'd in a War against your beloved Brethren in Jesus Christ the Dutch 'T was this gave occasion to your Magistrate distracted by your Pulpit-bawling and by the clamours of the multitude whom you had inflam'd into an Insurrection to write unseasonable Letters upon Letters to the Officers of your Regiment fraught with terrible menaces if they sâ—rv'd in this War against the Vnited Provinces Nay you thought it not enough to put in a Charge against your own Canton upon the account of its having granted Forces to his most Christian Majesty and his not preventing their being employ'd against the Dutch but you must also Panegyrically celebrate the Cantons of Zurick and Schaffouse for their refusal to give him any I cannot comprehend any reason you should have to name Schaffouse which being a poor little Canton has but one half-Company in the Service but a hands-breadth of ground within its Jurisdiction and can raise but Two Companies at the most
And you speak of it as if that refusal of their Forces had been very detrimental to the Kings Affairs and much retarded the Progress of his Conquests And yet it is certain in the mean time That all the best qualify'd Persons in the Councel of that Canton had promis'd to grant the Companies which the most Christian King required of it But One Factious person amongst them occasion'd the breaking of that Resolution upon this score that besides his being a man absolutely devoted to the Dutch ever since his reception of a Present from them when he sojourn'd in this Country he was out of hopes of getting the Command of a Company for one of his own Relations that he might make some advantage thereby But as to the Canton of Zurick I must acknowledg it to be powerful and that it might have rais'd several Companies of good Soldiers I know also That its Councel consists of Persons of very good worth such as have Wit and Honour Vigour and Constancy if the thing had depended upon them and they knew their own Interest much better than to have deny'd his Most Christian Majesty the Forces he had required of them But the mischief of it as you know is That they are not the absolute Masters The Sovereign Authority lies in the hands of the Councel of Two Hundred consisting for the most part of much Heat and little Prospect of much Obstinacy and little Reason It is no wonder then that the Ministers having enflam'd that multitude with the zealous Concern of Religion they could not be dispos'd to grant Forces to his most Christian Majesty though he should have no Design to employ them against the Dutch I must confess further Sir That I am very much astonish'd at your Undertaking to make a confident justification of those Two Cantons for their having deny'd Forces to the most Christian King as also that after you had blamed your own for their having granted a Regiment you should undertake to vindicate all it did afterwards either to have it recall'd or to prevent its being employ'd against the Dutch It will be no hard matter for me to make it appear to you That this Conduct of yours bâ—sides its being most unjust may also be very prejudicial even as to what relates to the interests of Religion You cannot forbear granting your selves to be absolutely unjust if you deny the demeaning of your selves towards his most Christian Majesty as you would have him demean himself towards you For instance If it should happen that you were attack'd by the King of Spain or the Emperour by the Duke of Savoy by the Catholick-Cantons or by some other Prince of the same Religion you would desire That his most Christian Majesty would assist you against them by vertue of the Alliance there is between you and him If the King should deny you the Forces you desired and alledge That he could not assist you being of the Reformed Religion against Catholick Princes you would complain of it and affirm That the Most Christian King does not observe the Alâ—iance he has made with you How then do you not see that the most Christian King has just cause of complaining That you are unwilling to supply him with Forces against the Dutch because they are of the Reformed Religion Do you not further observe That by your indiscreet Zeal you deprive your selves of all the Advantages which you might expect from the Alliance there is between You and the most Christian King by giving him just cause to deny you assistance if you should come to desire it of him If the Duke of Savoy should enter into a War against you upon the Pretensions he has to the Country of Vaud tell me Whether you would be so presumptuous as to desire assistance from the Most Christian King You would not have your Forces to serve his most Christian Majesty against the Dutch bâ—cause they are of our Reformed way of Religion though they are not your Allies By what Right can you pretend That the most Christian King should give you Forces to serve you who are not of his Religion against a Catholic Prince who besides his being in alliance with him has also the honour of being nearly related to him Besides you make but an ill acknowlâ—dgment of the Favour which the most Christian King did you not Two Years since when he openly undertook your protection against the Bishop of Basil who was going to give you some disturbance He had establish'd a Catholick Church upon some part of your Territories as he pretended that he had a right to do The Pope the Emperour and the King of Spain had openly taken his part by reason of the Concern of the Catholick Religion The most Christian King having been inform'd That he had not any Right to establish that Church upon your Territories sent a Message to him That if he did not restore things to the condition they were in before and forbear making any alteration he would openly grant you assistance against him You know Sir That the said Prelate standing more in awe of the most Christian King's Indignation than relying on the Succours of the Pope the Emperour and the King of Spain thought in his best course to renounce his Pretensions and to give over disturbing you If the most Christian King had done then what you have done at the present he would have been far enough from entertaining so much as a thought of protecting you being of the Reformed Religion against a Bishop especially in a Cause wherein the Interest of the Catholick Religion was concern'd You know also That the Emperour and the King of Spain who have a particular Alliance with the Catholick Cantons are oblig'd to assist them in case they should enter into a Warre against you or against the other Protestant Cantons Now it is manifest That upon such occasions you cannot hope for any assistance but from the most Christian King If therefore you would not have your Forces to serve his most Christian Majesty against the Dutch who are not your Allies meerly upon the score of their professing the same Religion as you do I do not see how you can desire the most Christian King to grant you Forces to serve you who are of the Reformed Religion against the Catholick Cantons who are of his Allies as well as you You know further That the City of Geneva is under the protection of France ever since the time of Henry the Third who granted it thereto against Philibert-Emanuel Duke of Savoy All the Successors of that King have continu'd their protection to the same City against the Successors of that ancient Duke who are the troublesome Neighbours and in a manner the only Enemies whom that Republick has any cause to fear You see then by this proceduce of Henry the Third of France and the Kings who succeeded him That though they were very zealous for their Religion yet they made no scruple of giving
time That the said authority belong'd to them of Right upon the score of their merit that of their birth that of the great Estates they were possess'd of and that of the Services they had done the State The Ecclesiastical party were most highly disgusted upon this account That their Abbeys their Priories and their Benefices were to be abolished for the Raising of a Revenue for the new Bishopricks which had been erected as also for that they had set over them certain Persons who devour'd their annual profits and who censur'd their Conduct and their Manners To which they added another grievance That according to the decisions of the most learned Lawyers of the Country it was an impiâ—ty to convert the Goods of Ecclesiastical Persons to any other Use than that whereto they had been design'd by the Wills of those who had made the donations of them The Magistrates of Cities and Corporations made their Complaint That they had deny'd audience to the States who had desir'd a free Assembly that there might be a common consultation about the remedy most likely to promote the remedying of their grievances and that there had been new and insupportable impositions laid upon them not only without the Consent of the Estates but also in spight of their opposition The ordinary People loudly declar'd That the King of Spain would have abolish'd the ancient form of their Government to the subversion of their Lawes and Customes that he might thereby introduce a Tyrannical dominion like that which he made Use of for the Government of some Kingdomes of Spain that of Naples and the Indies In a word the Grandees the Ecclesiasticks the Magistracy and the common sort of People had all a particular occasion of discontent but they had also one which was common to them all Above all things they had an extream horror for the Inquisition which had been establish'd amongst them out of a Fear that under pretence of Religion some design might be carried on against the Liberties and Estates of all It was for the same reason that the Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Naples and of the Dutchy of Milan would not endure the establishment of the Inquisition amongst them though neither of those two Countries ever had any design to desert the doctrine and Worship of the Roman-Catholick Religion Most part of the Inhabitants of the Low-Countries were at the beginning strongly inclin'd to the profession of the ancient Religion and yet they could not endure that any man should be put to death upon the score of any Religion whatsoever And though that cruelty gave them not any occasion of Fear for themselves yet did it however raise in them a compassion for their fellow-Citizens Howe're it were whether out of pity to others or by way of precaution for themselves those People who were extremely jealous of their liberty and for the conservation of their Lawes and Customes which at best are but Temporal things contributory to the conveniences of the present life could yet much less endure to be depriv'd of the Spiritual things which relaâ—e to the service of God and eternal Salvation In the year 1566. The greatest Lords of the Country and several Gentlemen considerable upon the score of their extraction of whom most were Catholicks entred into an Alliance for the preservation of their municipal Laws and for the abrogation of the sanguinary Edicts which had been made for the Establishment of the Inquisition In pursuance of this first Treaty of union was it that they presented to Margaret then Governess of the Law-Countries that famous Petition which occasion'd the first insurrections and which procur'd them the denomination of Beggars which was then given them and which they could not get off for a long time After the Treaty of Gaunt all the Catholick Provinces save only that of Luxemburg enter'd into an Alliance with those which were already confederated for the security of their Lawes their Privileges and their Liberty The Alliance of Union and Armes which they had contracted against the Spaniards was immediately publish'd in Brussels and confirm'd by the solemn Oaths of the Clergy the Nobility the Gentry the People and of the Senate it self In the year 1578. The Estates as well of the Roman-Catholick Religion as of the Reformed Persuasion being assembled at the Hague did unanimously declare That King Philip was devested of the Principality of the Low-Countries In the year 1579. The Estates being assembled at Vtrecht made a new Union from which they took the name of the Vnited Provinces And in the 13 th Article of that Treaty it is expresly order'd That every man shall be allow'd the liberty of Religion without any trouble of persecution to any one upon that occasion All these Treaties of Alliance which the Provinces as well Catholick as Protestant had made together for their mutual defence against the Spaniards make it evidently appear That the design of Establishing a new Religion was neither the ground nor motive thereof Prince William himself in his Declarations and Apologies did alwaies openly protest as did also the States in theirs That they had not taken up armes for Religion and that the Provinces had not united in order to the profession of any one particular Religion So far was it from this that it is certain all the Treaties as that of Gaunt and the Union of Vtrecht all the Declarations of the Arch-Duke Matthias and of the Duke of Anjou do loudly establish the free Exercise of all Religions and in express terms forbid the Disturbing and Persecuting of any man upon that occasion In the mean time though they had not at the beginning any reflection by way of conscientious motive for the having of any one publick Religion yet could they not forbear establishing it afterwards out of a pure interest of State The Inhabitants of the Low-Countriâ—â— having then in a manner quite shaken off the yoke of Obedience to the Magistrates that juncture of time seem'd wonderfully fit for the Establishment of new Religions About thirty or forty years before men had seen budding out afresh in Germany the opinions of John Hus in England those of Wickliff and in France those of the Waldenses All these different doctrines were much about the same time spread up and down amongst the Belgians The Prince of Orange having got out of Germany and France some of the Disciples of Luther and Calvin where their Religions were already establish'd order'd them to Preach in the Low-Countries by the means of those new Doctors But he himself persisted in a publick profession of the Roman Religion and was unwilling in the Principality of Oranâ—e to permit the Exercise of our Reformed Religion which was otherwise well establish'd in France But as he had his Prospects at a great distance he either under-hand or openly when he thought it most convenient countenancâ—d or conniv'd at all the Assemblies which the People made for the Exercise of all the New Religions which were
of no long Standing in the World By this mâ—ans did he make account to gain the Affections of the People and at one time or other to make his advantage of those different Râ—ligions for the execution of his great Designs He knew that all those new Christians whom he protected in the Exercise of Religions were so many Creatures whom he made sure to his Party by an inviolable Bond and as many irreconcileable Enemies to Philip who was the cruel Persecutor of all those upstart Professors of Religion In the mean time Prince William who had all this while conconceal'd his Sentiments for Religion took a very convenient opportunity to lay by the Roman-Catholick persuasion which he had till then profess'd and to embrace that of the Protestants He was in Germany at his Brothers the Count of Nassaw and had been forc'd by the Intreaties of many of his Relations and some Friends banishâ—d out of the Low-Countries to try an expedition to endeavour the deliverance of their Country from the oppression wherein it was and to set it at liberty When therefore he saw that he stood in need of the assistance of the Protestants for the getting of an Army togâ—ther he thought it a fit time to cast off the Mask and to publish by his Mâ—nifesto That he had deserted the Roman Church to follow a better Religion He had also in his Eye this considerable advantage That by the Settlement of a Religion different from the Roman he rendred the reconciliation between the Provinces and the King of Spain more difficult or indeed impossible He had observ'd that some of the Catholick Provinces had deviaâ—ed from the Alliance of Gaunt and put themselves under the obedience of Philip and he saw that the Catholicks of the Confedâ—rated Provinces would rather have enclin'd him to reassume the yoke of their ancient domination It was his Fear and with reason That when the dispute should be only about the Privileges the Lawes and the Customs and in a word things of a temporal Concern King Philip coming to satisfie his Subjects or the Subjects to recede from their Rights for the obtaining of a Peace it would be no hard matter to see those people reconcil'd to their Prince Whereas on the other side having dispos'd the confederated Provinces to embrace a new Religion he thereby put an insurmountable obstruction to their reunion with Philip. He knew that That Prince who with an implacable fury persecuted all those who had renounc'd the ancient Religion would resolve rather to lose the Low-Countries than to grant his Subjects the free Exercise of a new Religion There had been a Report spread about that presently upon his Return into Spain after he had order'd the Condemnation of some men eminent for their Learnâ—ng and women illustrious for their birth to be burnt he would himself be present at so cruel an execution and was a spectator of it as if it had been a delightful Show Many persons therefore amongst the Inhabitants of the Low-Countries having embrac'd the new Religions the Prince of Orange engag'd them by the Bond of Conscience and by the Despair or Pardon to maintain the Change he had made that so they might not relapse under the power of their ancient Master Happy was it for the prosecution of his design that he had made this advantage of that Liberty of Conscience which he had given to all sorts of persons but perceiving withal that that unbounded Liberty without the establishment and preference of some one Religion occasion'd a great confusion in the Government he thought it necessary to make choice of one which should be the pubâ—ick and predominant Religion and the Religion of State Yet had he not as yet absolutely pitch'd upon what he intended nor determin'd which Religion he ought to embrace whether that of the Lutherans that of the Calvinists or that of the Anabaptists all those three Religions not making any acknowledgment of the Popes Authority or the jurisdiction of the Roman Church But he had afterwards some reasons which oblig'd him to determine upon the choice of one as well for his own private Concern as for that of the State The Sect of the Anabaptists was the least considerable upon all accounts and was not much to be fear'd as well by reason of the divisions wherewith it was shaken as by reason of its Sectators who for the most part were persons of a very obscure condition and of their Sentiments by which they are not admitted to Magistracy or the Use of Arms. For which reason the Prince of Orange could not make any Use of them as being not proper for his Design He aspir'd to the principal charge of the State and that Religion permitted not its Disciples to exercise any kind of Magistracy He needed the assistance of Arms to maintain and make good the Change he had made in the State and the new form of Government which he had establish'd and the Anabaptists would not have Arms used upon any occasion The Lutheran Religion was very considerable by reason of the affection and Support of several Princes of Germany who had embrac'd it and highly protected those who made profession thereof Prince William had more inclination for that Religion in which he haâ— been instructed from his Infancy and he might very well hope for assistance and protection from the Electoral House of Saxony of which he had Married a Daughter to his Second Wife But on the other side he hoped for more considerable assistances from the Princes who made profession of our Reformed way of Religion That which Queen Elizabeth had Establish'd in England was wholly conformable to ours as to the Doctrine and differ'd from it only as to the Form of Government and the Use of Ceremonies The Elector-Palatine who was then the most powerful Prince of the Empire did absolutely profess the same Religion The King of Navarre the Prince of Condé and the Admiral Castillon and a considerable number of the Lords and Gentlemen and a numerous people of France made a publick profession of it The Prince of Orange therefore hoping to engage all those Princes by the interest of one and the same Religion to give him powerful assistances for the corroboration of the new Republick thought fit to make choice of that Religion for himself and the State Besides as that Religion was more contrary to that of the Romish Church than the Lutheran so he thought it more fit for the Common-wealth which he had founded out of an aversion to the Tyrannical Domination of Spain The Inhabitants of the Low-Countries having a strong aversion for the Spaniards the Prince of Orange endeavour'd to persuade them That there was no likelihood that a people so corrupted should have received directions from God to serve him purely by the Worship of the true Religion He afterwards endeavour'd to insinuate to them That our Reformed Religion which was more different from theirs was doubtless the best and most acceptable
to God There comes into my mind upon this occasion what I have Read in the History of the Indies That they could not by any means dispose a great number of persons of that Country to be converted to the Christian Religion because the Spaniards made a profession of it For as those poor people had seen them commit such Cruelties as they had never seen any example of before so they had a horror for their Religion upon a supposition that it inspir'd them with such barbarous Sentiments They could not be mov'd with the hope of Celestial Felicity after they had been told that the Spaniards together with all good Christians would have their abode in that happy place They saw no charms in the Glories of Paradice since they were to be partakers of â—hem with a Nation so barbarous and they could not believe that the Felicity which they put them in hopes of could secure them from the persecution of so inhumane a people In a word they could not be induc'd to embrace a Religion which was to conduct them after their death to live eternally in the company of a people which according to their Sentiment was the most wicked of any upon Earth The Duke of Alva having exercis'd in the Low-Countries as strange Cruelties as those of his Country had done in the Indies the Inhabitants of Flanders and no less an aversion for the Spaniards then the Indians And as all the rigorous punishments which had been inflicted upon the people of the Low-Countries were imputed to the Roman-Catholick Religion so the Prince of Orange did cunningly make use of that prejudgment to induce them to embrace a Religion contrary to that of the Spaniards which had made them endure so many Calamities It was in the Year 1572. that that Religion which was receiv'd in your Protestant-Cantons at Geneva in the Palatinate of Germany and in the Churches of France was established in the Confederated Provinces for the only publick Religion And yet they put a difference in it which you will think very considerable if you consult the Sentiments of your first Reformers those of the Doctors who were their Successors and the constant practice of your Protestant-Cantons and of all the Estates of the Reform'd Religion For you know that in all the Countries where those of our Religion are the Masters they do not suffer the exercise of any other Religion nor allow in all their Territories a place of habitation to those who profess a different one whereas the Vnited Provinces did not only permit the exercise of all sorts of Religions but did also reject as Tyrannical all the Laws whereby there was any prescription made for Uniformity of Sentiments upon that occasion attributing to them the name of Inquisition so odious amongst them And this Liberty of Conscience was as I have already observ'd Establish'd not only by the Writings of the Prince of Orange by the Peace of Gaunt by the publick and particular agreement which was made for Religion under the Regency of the Arch-Duke Matthias by the Union of Vtretcht and by several Treaties which have been made with the Cities of the Country If I mistake not methinks it may be affirmed that the Confederated Provinces were of our Reformed Religion in particular while the Liberty of Conscience was Establish'd for all sorts of Persons and the exercise of all Religions was publickly permitted and it was so till the Year 1583. All the Regulations which the States-General have made afterwards for Religion and the Conduct they have been guided by in reference to that are so far from proving them to be of our Religion that they make it evidently appear that they never were nor are not at all of it And this Sir is what I design to justifie to you in the first Letter which I shall write to you upon this Subject This is long enough and if I am weary of Writing you possibly may be more weary of Reading what I have Written Let us then repose a while It will not be long e're you hear from me again mean time be assur'd that I am Reverend Sir Your most humble c. Vtretcht May 4 th 1673. The Second LETTER Reverend Sir IF you have seriously reflected on what I have written in my first Letter I conceive you will readily make this acknowledgment That the Vnited Provinces were not of the Reformed Religion as long as there was not any such Establish'd by any publick Decree and that all the Sectaries had as much liberty there as those of the Reformed Persuasion I know well enough that that Liberty of Conscience which had been Establish'd by so many Treaties and by so many publick Acts was absolutely forbidden by the Regulation which the States-General made in the Year 1583. Take here in express terms what it contains Since there has been a permission granted by the Vnion of Utrecht to amplifie to abridge and change some Articles when ever the welfare and security of the Provinces should seem to require it the States attentively considering the XIII Article have unanimously ordain'd and appointed That the exercise of any Religion shall not be henceforward receiv'd other then that which is publickly taught in the United Provinces which is the Reformed Religion With this proviso however That if any Provinces Members or Cities of the Popish Religion shall be willing to enter into this Alliance they shall be continu'd in the freedome of their Religion conditionally that they sign and subscribe the other Articles of this Alliance To render this Ordinance of no effect I might tell you what was alledg'd as soon as ever it was past by the Catholicks and all those who were not of our Reformed Religion Their complaint was That it had been made contrary to all manner of Justice and Reason contrary to the Stipulated Faith of all the Treaties which the Inhabitants of the same Provinces had made and of those which the Provinces had made mutually one with an other They maintain'd That having united themselves together for the preservation of the Laws and Privileges of the Country it was a great injustice to make an Establishment of one single Religion to be the publick Religion and to deprive the others of the exercise of theirs and not to allow them any part in the Government of the State But above all others the Catholicks thought it very strange that they having taken up Arms against the Spaniards only for the defence of their Liberty should not be allow'd the free exercise of their ancient Religion as if they had spent all their labour only to deprive themselves thereof and to acquire Liberty of Conscience for others and to make the Reformed Religion the most predominant and to raise that only into the Throne Nor did the followers of the other Religions think they had less cause then the Catholicks to be dissatisfy'd and disgusted at that Ordinance which took away the exercise and absolute freedom of their Religion They
urged That from the time of their first intertexture of the interest of Religion with that of the State in the contest which they had with the Spaniards Liberty of Conscience had been Establish'd by so many publick Decrees that they could not be violated without extremity of injustice The Prince of Orange without concerning himself much at the complaints of the one or the other of the aggrieved Parties did for his own private interest and for that of the Republick prosecute his design of making an Establishment of our Reformed Religion to be the only Publick Religion of which all those who should pretend to any concern in the Administration of the Government were oblig'd to make their profession He had a jealousie of the Catholicks upon the score of his being afraid that they might employ their credit to dispose the people to resettle themselves under the domination of the Spaniards Nor had he any greater liking to the adherents of the other Religions by reason of their being odious to all the rest of the Protestants As therefore those who profess'd our Reformed Religion were the best-affected to him so he thought it convenient to entrust them with all the Authority for the management of publick Affairs Now Reverend Sir be your self pleas'd to judg whether these Provinces deserve to be called of the Reformed Religion for this reason that out of pure interest of State and without any Justice they have made an Ordinance for the Establishment of one single Religion exclusively to all the rest But supposing I should grant that whatever is alledg'd by the Catholicks and the Sectaries against that Ordinance is groundless and irrational and that they had the justest Reasons in the World to make it yet I maintain that the bare making of it is not a sufficient inducement for any one to affirm that this State is of the Reformed Religion I cannot forbear acknowledging that this Ordinance does so expressly comprehend the sentiment of all our Doctors that if the Vnited Provinces had been as careful in the execution of it as the Elector-Palatine your Protéstant-Cantons and the City of Geneva are it could not be deny'd but that their State really and truly is of our Reformed Religion But I think Sir that you do know and if you do not know it I shall make it so clearly appear to you that you shall not in the least doubt of it That this Ordinance has been so far from being put into execution that they have always practic'd and still do practice what is directly contrary to the Contents thereof By this Ordinance there is an express prohibition of allowing any other Religion then the Reformed in the Provinces and yet we there find the publick exercise of many other Religions besides the Reformed not to say of all those who were desirous to have it And that you may not doubt of it I shall here give you a short Catalogue of the Religions in that Country which have an uncontroulable liberty of celebrating their Mysteries and serving God as they themselves think fit Be pleas'd then to know that besides those of the Reformed Religion there are Roman-Catholicks Lutherans Brownists Independents Arminians Anabaptists Socinians Arrians Enthusiasts Quakers Borrelists Armenians Muscovites Libertines and others And there are in fine some whom we may call Seekers because they are still seeking out for a Religion and do not profess any of those which are already Establish'd I give you no account of the Jews the Turks and the Persians in regard that as they are not Sects o Christians so what I might say of them would signifie nothing to the subject I have in hand And since I am well satisfy'd that there are not any Turks and Persians but what are in Amsterdam or haply in some other Sea-Port-Towns there is no consequence deducible thence for the Residence of any such in the other Cities of that Country Nor shall I say any thing of the Armenians and Muscovites who are all of the Greek Religion And as I conceive that there are only some Merchants of the one and of the other of those Nations and that none of the Natives of the Country do profess their Religion so I do not think there is any person that will condemn the liberty which is given them to serve God according to the Ceremonies and Precepts of their Religion And whereas of all the other Religions and Sects we find a great number of persons born in that Country who make an open and publick profession thereof I conceive you will not take it amiss that I should here in few words give you an account of the Opinions of all the Religions which are in this Country As to the Doctors and Professors of our Religion I question not but you know that they also differ amongst themselves in many things Voëtius and des Marets have by their disputes distracted and dishumour'd all the Province of Holland where they have been so violent one against the other that if men would believe either the one or the other they must upon pain of Damnation stick to the sentiment of the one and reject that of his Adversary Voëtius did and still does maintain That it is Sacriledge to leave the Ecclesiastical Revenues at the disposal of Slothful Paunches which are not any way serviceable to Church or State That those who are known by the name of Lombards are not to be called or admitted to the Lord's Supper inasmuch as lending out Money at Interest they exercise a profession forbidden by the word of God That the Sabbath-Day is to be very carefully and Religiously observ'd That we ought not to Celebrate any Festival-Day no not Easter Whitsuntide or Christmas That when we speak of the Apostles Evangelists or Disciples of Jesus Christ we are not to give any one the name of Saint and that we are not to say Saint Peter Saint Paul Saint John Saint Thomas but to say downright Peter Paul John and Thomas and that all the Faithful ought to follow a severe kind of life to retrench themselves from the greatest part even of the most innocent enjoyments of life that they may the better work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling On the other side des Marets is opposite to Voetius almost in all these things and hath argu'd against his Sentiments with so much Animosity as if their Dispute had been about those points of Religion which are most important and most necessary to Salvation And I think they had not yet ended their Dispute if Cocceius had not publish'd some Opinions which were displeasing to both upon which they thought fit to agree together in order to the opposing of them This Cocceius was a Professor of the University of Leiden very well skill'd in the Hebrew Tongue who read the Scripture with a continual attention and has therein discover'd many things which were not before known to any one and hath penetrated into the mystical and profound Sence of
of the Satisfaction of Jesus Christ Episcopius in the mean time affirms That Jesus Christ has by his Passion and Death so far satisfy'd God as to render him Propitious to all Mankind and ready henceforwards to receive all men into his Communion provided they by Faith embrace that Propitiation of Jesus Christ So that God being no longer displeas'd there is no Enmity remaining but what proceeds from Men refusing to entertain the grace of Jesus Christ They very earnestly press the Toleration of all the Opinions of those who profess Christian Religion maintaining That all Christians agree in the most Important and such as they call the most Essential and Fundamental Points of Religion That it has not been hitherto decided by an Infallible Judgment who they are amongst the Christians who have embrac'd the Truest and Purest Religion and such as is most conformable to the Word of God That to the effect all may be mutually united to make up one and the same Body or Church and that they ought to love one another as Brethren and not to have any enmity or animosity one against another upon the score of their dissenting in some Points of Religion especially such as are not of the most considerable That men ought not to force any one to condemn and renounce his own Sentiments or to approve and follow those of another They say That heretofore amongst the Jews the Pharisees the Sadduces and the Esseni of whom the Sects were very different and had most dangerous Opinions were however tolerated by the Jews and all receiv'd into the Temple to present theiâ— Sacrifices and Prayers to God and to perform all the other Functions of Religion If Arminius were to come into the World again certainly he would not own most of those who bear his Name to be his Disciples And yet there are some amongst them who have not added any thing to his Sentiments But they all agree in this point That all Christians ought to be Tolerated either that all-together they might make up but one and the same Church or that every one may be allow'd the liberty of his Religion The Brownists have many great Assemblies in the Low-Countries They are a sort of people separated from the English Church and from all the other Reformed Churches which they think to be corrupted not as to the Doctrinal Points of Faith concurring in that respect with those of the Reformed Religion of Holland Germany and other places but as to the Form of Government They equally condemn Episcopal Government and that of the Presbyterians by Consistories Classes and Synods They will not joyn with our Churches for this reason as they say that they are not assur'd of the Conversion and Probity of the Members whereof they consist because they therein suffer Sinners with whom men ought not to communicate and that in the participation of the Sacraments the good contract impurity in the Communion of the wicked They condemn the benediction of the Marriages which are celebrated in Churches by the Ministers maintaining That being a Political Contract the confirmation of it depends on the Civil Magistrate They would not have their Children to be baptiz'd who are not Members of the Church or are not as careful as they ought to be of the Children that have been baptiz'd They reject all Forms of Prayers nay they affirm That the Prayer which our Lord has taught us ought not to be recited as a Prayer but that it was given us to be the Rule and Model by which we ought to frame all those which we present to God They reject the Use of Bells and Churches especially such as they say had been Consecrated to Idolatry The Independents are a brood of the Brownists John Robinson an English man is the Father of all those who are in this Country They believe That every Church or as they call it every particular Congregation has in it self radically and essentially whatever is for its conduct and government and all Ecclesiastical Power and Jurisdiction That such a Church or Congregation is not subject either to one or more Churches or to their Deputies or Assemblies or Synods or to any Bishop Or that any one Church or Assembly has any power over any other Church whatsoever That every particular Church ought to manage its own affairs without any dependence on any other and hence it comes that such as follow these Sâ—ntiments have the denomination of Independents And though they do not think there is any necessity of assembling Synods yet they affirm That if any be assembled there ought to be a consideration of their resolutions as of the counsels of wise and prudent men whereto a certain submission is due and not as definitions and establishments requiring conformity and obedience They are willing to acknowledge that one or more Churches may be assistant to another Church as to advice and admonition nay that they may reprove it if there be any offence yet not upon the account of any superiour authority which has any power of Excommunication but as a Sister-Church declaring That she cannot have any communion with such a Church as hath offended and does not demean her self according to the Rules and Commandements of Jesus Christ And these are the Particular Sentiments of the Independents in reference to the Government of the Church Their very Name had render'd them very odious even to the Protestants but the Confession of Faith which their Brethren of England publish'd when they assembled at London in the Year 1651. has made it appear That they have not otherwise any particular sentiment as to matter of Doctrine but that in reference to that they concurre in all things with those of the Reformed Religion I have hitherto given you an account of but Three or Four different Religions or rather Persuasions but this Letter being come to a considerable Length I will adjourn what I have to say of the other Sects of this Countrey to the next opportunity I shall have to write to you remaining in the mean time Reverend Sâ—r Your most humble c. The Third LETTER Reverend Sir I Am now according to my promise to give you an account of all the different Sects or Religions which are in this Country They who in other places are called Anabaptists are known in these Provinces by the denomination of Mennonites and have deriv'd that Name from Menno a Man born at a Village of Friezland in the Year 1496. Not that the said Menno was the first Father of the Anabaptists in this Country but that he having rejected the Enthusiasmes and Revelations of the Primitive Anabaptists and their Opinions concerning the new Reign of Jesus Christ which they pretended to establish upon Earth by force of Arms has broach'd certain new doctrines which his Followers have embrac'd and persisted in to this day Their Tenets are these That the New Testament only and not the Old ought to be the Rule of our Faith That in speaking of
denomination of Seekers It is the acknowledgment of these people That there is one true Religion which Jesus Christ has brought us from Heaven and which he has reveal'd to us in his Word but they maintain withal That that true Religion of Jesus Christ which we ought to profess in order to the attainment of Salvation is not any one of those Religions which are Establish'd amongst Christians They have some particular exception to make against every one of those Religions and they condemn them all in general In a word They have not pitch'd upon any one determinate Religion as being still concern'd upon the Seeking account They read and meditate the Holy Scriptures with great attention They pray to God with a fervent Zeal That he would illuminate them in the knowledg of that Religion which they ought to embrace in order to the serving of him according to his Will and for the acquest of that everlasting Felicity which he has promis'd his Children I should not think that I have given you an account of all the Religions and Persuasions of this Country if I should omit the saying of a word or two of an Illustrious and Learned man who as I have beâ—n assur'd has a great number of Followers and those such as keep closely to his Sentiments He is a man by birth a Jew whose name is Spinosa one that has not abjur'd the Religion of the Jews nor embrac'd the Christian Religion So that he continues still a most wicked Jew and has not the least tincture of Christianity Some Years since he put forth a Book entituled Tractatus Theologo-Politicus wherein his principal design is to destroy all Religions and particularly the Jewish and the Christian and to introduce Atheisme Libertinisme and the free Toleration of all Religions He maintains That they were all invented for the advantage and conveniences which the Publick receives thereby to the end that all persons subject to Government may live honestly and obey their Magistrates and that they may addict themselves to Virtue not out of the hope or expectation of any reward after death but for the intrinsick excellency of Virtue in it self and for the advantages which accrue to those who follow it in this life He doâ—s not in that Book make an open discovery of the opinion which he has of the Divinity but he does however so far insinuate it as that we may guess at his meaning whereas in his Discourses he boldly affirms That God is not a Being endow'd with Intelligence Infinitely-Perfect and Blissful as we imagine him to be but that he is not any thing else but that Virtue of Nature which is diffus'd into all the Creatures This Spinosa is now living in this Country His Residence was for some time at the Hague where he was visited by the Virtuosi and all others who pretended to more then ordinary Curiosity nay by some young Ladies of Quality who pride themselves in being more ingenious then is requisite for their Sex His followers are somewhat cautious in discovering themselves because his Book before-mention'd does absolutely subvert the very Foundations of all Religions and has been condemn'd by a publick Edict of the States-General and a prohibition put upon the Sale of it and yet it is publickly Sold. Amongst all the Divines of whom there is a great number in this Country there has not stood up any one that has presum'd to write against the opinions which this Author advances in the afore-said Treatise And I am the more surpriz'd thereat for this reason that the Author making a discovery of his great knowledg of the Hebrew Tongue as also of all the Ceremonies of the Jewish Religion of all the Customs of the Jews and of the Heathenish Philosophy the Divines of the Reformation cannot say but that the Book does well deserve that they should take the pains to refute it For if they still continue silent men cannot forbear affirming that either they are defective in point of Charity in suffering so pernicious a Book to be scatter'd up and down without any Answer thereto or that they approve the Sentiments of that Author or that they have not the courage and abilities to oppose them And thus Reverend Sir have I given you an acccount of the different Sects of Christians which are in this Country and which have all in a manner the freedom of Exercising the Religions which they profess I leave you to make thereupon what reflections you shall think fit It will be no hard matter for me to deduce from this diversity of Sects such convincing Reasons as shall prove what I have before advanced to wit That the States-General are not of our Reformed Religion In the first place it cannot be affirmed that this State is of the Reformed Religion upon the score of the number of those who make profession of it For though it cannot be precisely known what number there are of persons professing the Calvinistical way of Reformation which is commonly called the Reformed Religion in these Provinces yet this is still out of all question That the number of those who are not of it is incomparably greater than that of those who do profess it Having thereupon consulted some of the Inhabitants they have assur'd me That there may be a Tripartite Division made of the people of these Provinces and that the three parts may be something towards an equality The one is of the Reformed Religion another of the Roman-Catholicks and the third of the Sectaries I should never have thought that the number of the Roman-Catholicks had been so great It is certain that a considerable part of the Inhabitants of Great Cities and the greatest part of those of the Campaigne and of the Boors of that Country are Roman-Catholicks and there are assuredly at least as many of those of the Reformed Religion And if we put together all the Sectaries they also doubtless make up a third part of the Inhabitants of these Provinces If therefore the Domination and the Denomination ought to be deduc'd from the greatest part those of the Reformed Religion being at most but a third part of the people of this Country cannot give the whole State the Denomination of being of the Reformed Religion It cannot therefore be such upon any other account than this that our Reformed Religion has been Establish'd and the others forbidden by the publick Edict before-mentioned It might indeed be granted that it deserv'd that name if that Ordinance had been put in execution but that having not been executed the name cannot be justly given it But that being a matter requiring much discussion I shall wave it at this time and make it the subject of my next to you and so I shall make no addition to this save only that of assuring you of my being Reverend Sir Your most humble c. Vtrecht May 7 th 1673. The Fourth LETTER Reverend Sir YOu have observ'd in my first Letter That the States-Generall have always
given Liberty of Conscience to all sorts of persons and allow'd the publick exercise in a manner of all Religions You thereby find that they never executed the Ordinance which they made in the Year 1583. to wit That no any Religion should be thenceforwards receiv'd nor the exercise of any other be permitted then that which was publickly taught in the Seven Provinces and which is the Reformed Religion It will be no hard matter for me to prove to you thereby That what external profession soever the Vnited Provinces have hitherto made of the Reformed Religion if we search the business to the bottom it will appear that they neither are nor ever were of it While the free exercise of all Religions was permitted by all the publick Decrees you will certainly acknowledg That then the States were not yet of our Reformed way of Religion For if you make this conclusion That these Provinces were at that time of our Religion because there was a publick profession of our Religion made in them I shall with the same reason make this That they were Catholicks Lutherans and Anabaptists because at that time there was a publick Profession made in them of all those Religions Let us therefore examine what Ordinances these Provinces made afterwards which might give them the name which they are so desirous to have of our Reformed Religion I have told you heretofore That it was in the Year 1572. that our Reformed way of Religion such as it was taught at Geneva in your Cantons and in the Palatinate of the Rhine was receiv'd in these Provinces for the only publick Religion But the very Ordinance which establish'd our Religion to be the publick Religion Did also openly confirm the Liberty of Conscience of all sorts of Religions with an express prohibition for the Disturbing or Molesting of any Person whatsoever upon that account The difference there upon this Score between the States-General and all the other Estates of our Reformed Religion was so great that I cannot imagine you should think the one and the others to be of the same Religion The Vnited Provinces had ordain'd it by a publick Decree That the free Exercise of all Relâ—gions should be permitted The Elector Palatine the City of Geneva and your Cantons did not in any part of their Territories permit the Exercise of any Religion ever so little different from ours I question not but that you know the Elector-Palatine did at the beginning follow the Confession of Auxbourg which was received in all his Dominions and that since that time having embrac'd our Reformed way of Religion and having estâ—blish'd it in his Country he order'd all the Lutherans who would not make profession thereof to depart out of it It is doubtless no small trouble to the Elector of Brandenbourg to see that most of his Subjâ—cts are Lutherans that there are many of them Catholicks and but very few of the Calvinistical reformed way of Religion But as you know it is not above sixty years since that Electoral House began to make profession of our Reformed Religion yet so that he could not oblige his Subjects either his embrace the same or to quit that which they had profess'd for a long time before John Sigismond who died in the Year 1619. and was Grandfather to the Elector now reigning was the first Renouncer of the Lutherane Religion which he and some of the Ancestors had till then profâ—ss'd and first the Profession of our Reformed way He publish'd a Confession of Faith in the Year 1614. In the Preface of it he saies That it was about eighty Years since Joakim he Second had renounced the Ceremonies of the Roman Church But that having retain'd a Doctrâ—ne upon the Point of the Eucharist which was not conformable to the Truth and some other things in the Temples which were not allowable he had apply'd himself to the correcting of all Abuses in order to a full and perfect Reformation And yet the greatest part of his Subjects having near fourscore years before embrac'd the Lutherane Religion he was so far from obliging them to quit it and to embrace the Profession of ours that in many parts of his Territories nay even at Berlin it self which is the principal City of his Residence he has not the Liberty of having the particular Exercise of our Relâ—gion for any but himself and those of his Houshold No doubt but he wishes that he could follow the example of other Estates who do profess it in not permitting the Exercise of any oâ—her in all his Dominions There is not any necessity of my telling you That there never was either at Geneva or in your Cantons any permission I do not say of the Exercise of our Religion but even of Habitation for those whose profess a Religion different from ours That being so I assure my self of your being persuaded that one and the same Religion cannot inspire those who profess it with sentiments that are contradictory and with an absolutely opposite Conduct and deportment There may be some in the World who would say That interest of State obliged the Palatinate the City of Geneva and your Cantons to proceed one way and that the same interest of State obliges the Vnited Prvinces to take a quite different Course in the same case and upon the same Oceasion But I do not imagine that you approve that strange Maxim of some Politicians who accommodate Religion to the Interest of State and I hope you will acknowledge that they who do so have not any at all At the very time that our Religion was establish'd by a publick Decree Liberty of Conscience was also solemnly confirm'd by the Union of Vtrecht Nay it is expressly granted That as to matter of Religion Every Seignory or Province should make such regulation as it thought fit according to its own customes It is therefore manifest That the united Provinces cannot be said to be of the Reformed Religion according to the Calvinistical way but only from that time and by Reason of the Regulation which they made in the Year 1583. But if as I think I have evidently made it appear the States have no other ground than that from which they may have the demonination of being of the Reformed Religion methinks I shall without much ado make it further appear to you that they have not any at all If then the Decree they made by which it was expressly ordained That there should not be the permission of any Religion amongst them but of ours only does justly give them the Name of a State of that Reformed Religion the continual Conduct which they have hitherto observ'd in a constant Practice of what is quite contrary to the Ordinance does if I mistake not deprive them of the Name which they pretended to by its Establishment I do not think Sir that you will undertake to maintain That for a State to be of our Reformed Religion it needs do no more than make a Decree by
which it declares a Resolution to profess it and not to permit in its Territories the Exercise of any other Religion when instead of a sincere Accomplishment of what had been resolved by its Decree it is so far from performing of any thing of it that it acts dâ—rectly to contrary thereto I do not imagine you will pretend That State to be of our Religion by Virtue of a Decree which it makes and never did put in Execution You will tell me That the States-General are of our Religion because they affirm it and make a publick Profession thereof And I on the other side maintain that That is not sufficient for their assuming a name which they do not deserve since they destroy the external Profession they make of it by a Practice quite opposite and very odious to all those of the Religion If they permitted in their Country but one or two Religions whose Sentiments were not much different from ours and that in some of the less principal and lesser important Points there would be no great Cause for men to wonder at it It might be urged That Prudence and Charity oblig'd them to have some Complyance for Christians who as to the principal Part retain the ground-work of Faith though they have not received such Illuminations from God as might create a Belief of all our Mysteries But is there any thing in the World so surprizing as our finding That the States give an unlimited liberty to all Sorts of Religions insomuch That in the very Province of Holland there are more discover'd and acknowledg'd Sects than there are in all the other Parts of Europe and that there is not any Master-Heretick who has a mind to frame a nâ—w Sect but is there kindly received to teach and propagate his Religion and to make a publick Profession thereof Some Years since John Labadie the Apostate having been depos'd and excommunicated by the Walloon-Churches of this Country addressed himself to the Heer Van Beuninghen desiring to be taken into his Protection Van Beuninghen makes him this Answer That as long as he was willing to continue in the Communion of the Walloon-Churches he was oblig'd to submit to their Ordinances and Discipline but that if he would frame a new Sect he should participate of the Protection which the States granted to all sorts of Religions I do not question but you know the said person and are doubtless able to judge That it was not out of any Scruple of Conscience that he thought it not convenient to establish his Sect in this Countrey He had amongst his Devotes the Illustrious Gentlewoman Mrs. Mary de Schurmans and other young Ladies of more than ordinary quality but being in some Fear That their Relations might get them out of his Society which began to be cry'd down and to appear very scandalous he thought it his better way to settle himself elsewhere with his sanctified Company of both Sexes whom he took along with him Had he thought it convenient to make his Abode in this Country he would have augmented the Number of Sects which have their Establishment here and made some Additions to the Religions which have a publick Liberty in these parts But though this Liberty of Conscience is of so great a Latitude as I have told you yet I am in some suspense whether you know it to be so comprehensive as to extend to the countenancing and protecting of those Hereticks whom you would sentence to death if they were amongst you This I am satified you know That above a hundred years ago your Canton and the Republick of Geneva condemned Michael Servetus and Scipio Gentilis to be buâ—nt alive for the erroneous Opinions they held concerning the Trinity The principal Errours upon which they were Indicted are much the same or at least are not more dangerous than those which the Socinians maintain upon the same Mystery of Christian Religion Do you not then wonder at the extraordinary difference there is between the Conduct observ'd by your Canton and the Republick of Geneva towards those two ancient Hereticks and that which the States observe in reference to the Socinians who propagate the same Heresies or others that are equally pernicious Geneva and your Canton could not endure the one Servetus and the other Gentilis and pass'd their judgment that they both deserv'd death The States-General do without any Scruple suffer a great number of Socinians most of whom are born and brought up amongst them and never had the least thought of doing them any harm upon the score of their Religion Your Canton and the City of Geneva would have thought themselves guilty of a great Crime against God if they had not by death taken off these two Hereticks who hâ—ld such strange Errours against the Divinity of Jesus Christ But the States-General would think they had committed a great Sin against God if they should put any of the Socinians to death whatever their Errours may be Your Cantons and the City of Geneva thought themselves obâ—ig'd in Conscience out of their zeal for the Glory of God and Christian Religion to take all the Courses imaginable for the smothering of those Heresies which are so destructive to our Principal Mysteries The States-General have on the contrary done all that lay in their Power to countenance and to improve them Not many years ago the Books of the Socinians were very scarce Amongst those which had come forth into the World as they had been printed in very remote places and but very few Copies had been taken off so were there not any to be had but at very dear Rates nay most of them were not to be had at all The States-General have out of their special Favour and Indulgence and out of an unparallel'd tenderness of Conscience found out a Remedy for that inconvenience To satisfy the Socinians and those who were desirous to become their Proselytes they have permitted the works of Four of their principal Doctors to be printed at Amsterdam to wit those of Socinus Crellius Slichtingius and Wolfogenius At this very time there is publickly sold at Amsterdam that Library of the Socinians in Eight Volumes in folio which costs but a hundred Guilders Not many years since two hundred Pistols would not have purchased one part of those Works which at present may be had altogether for less than ten True it is That not long since there was burnt at Amsterdam a certain book of the Socinians but it was done no doubt upon the very Intreaty of William Bleau for whom it had been printed Not many dayes after that publick Execution he publickly expos'd the very same Book to sale and the more to recommend the sale of it and to enhaunce the Price of it he had got an Advertisement put into the Title-Page that it was the very same Book which had been by Order of the States condemn'd to be publickly burnt by the hand of the common Executioner I question not but you
have had the relation or haply you your self remember it very well how that not much above Forty years ago the Magistrate of Geneva caused Nicholas Anthony a Minister at Divonne in the Balliage of Gex to be burnt alive upon a discovery made of his being a Jew The Twelve Articles which he signed and upon which an Indictment was drawn up against him make it evidently appâ—ar that he did not beliâ—ve any one of our Mysteries of the Incarnation and Death of Jesus Christ for the Salvation of men and that he expected the coming of Jesus Christ as the Jews do expect him for their Deliverance and the Establishment of a Temporal Kingdom upon Earth No doubt but you know that the Jews are very numerous in this Country that they have an absolute Liberty and their Synagogue in which they make their Assemblies for the Service of God and that there never was the least Thought of driving them hence or putting any one of them to death You know also better than I do my self what you did at Berne in reference to some Mennonites who were found in your Territories They gave them the dreadful name of Anabaptists purposely to render them odious and abominable to all your people You cast them into Prison and you there kept them a long time out of the Zeal you had for your own Religion and the aversion you had to theirs nay for a certain time you would not set them at liberty in order to their departure with what they had into some other Parts But at last you granted them that Favour and it is not unlikely that you did it upon the Intreaty of the Magistrate of Roterdam who writ to you a very pressing Letter on their Behalf Some years before the Canton of Schasfhouse had also banish'd out of their Tâ—rritories certain Mennonites and thought they had done them a kindness in permitting them to take along with them what effects they had into some other parts Nay I have been also assured that not many Years since a certain Number of Mennonites being to their Misfortune found in the Canton of Zeurich they were taken into custody and had indictments drawn up against them on these two Capital Crimes There were at that time some Comapnies raising upon some extraordinary occasion which the Magistrates had for the safety of the Country The Mennonites would have excused themselves from being listed in those Companies alledging That they did not believe a Christian could with a good Conscience bear arms upon any occasion whatsoever They preferr'd however voluntarily to lay down what money should be required of them for the payment of such Person as might be put in to serve in their stead They would moreover engage them to oblige themselves by Oath to be faithfull to the State and to obey their Magistrates They acknowledged That they were in Conscience oblig'd to that Duty and that they should be very careful in the discharging of it They promis'd to do so and declar'd that they conceiv'd themselves as deeply engag'd by their bare word as if they had confirm'd it with a solemn Oath But that they could not be induc'd to take any for this Reason that they believed that Jesus Christ had commanded such as profess'd Christianity simply to say Yea for the affirming of a thing and Nay for the denying of it expressly forbidding them to swear upon any occasion whatsoever The Magistrate of Zurich judging that those two Errours were pernicious to the State pass'd this Order against the Authors thereof That within Fifteeâ—â—â— dayes they were to depart out of Switzerland and to remove thâ—â—ce all their Effects and Concerns or abjure their Doctrine be ready to take their Oaths and to take up Arms if the Magistrate commanded any such thing And if any one did not obey this Order that he should be taken and banish'd after he had receiv'd a severe Chastisment by Whipping If he were taken a second time That he should be whipped again and that after he had been burnt with an hot Iron on the Shoulder he should be again sentenc'd to Banishment but if he were taken the third time he was to be brought to the Magistrate as a Rebel and so to be put to death But all the Cities of this Netherlandish Country are full of these Mennonites who have their publick Assemblies and an absolute Liberty of Exercising their Religion Nay there is at Amsterdam That Christopher Sandius of whom I have heretofore spoken to you who makes an open and publick Profession of being an Arrian and he has many Disciples If therefore you will seriously examine the thing I think you will meet with but little Encouragement to maintain That those Governments which follow so contrary a Practice one to the other upon a matter of Fact so important Reference to Religion can in the mean time be of the same Religion I do not Imagine that you will approve or what some affirm upon this occasion That in things which are indifferent two States may demean themselves the one this way and the other that way and be both in the mean time of the same Religion Things indifferent as to practicability are if I am not mistaken such as may or may not be done or be done after one manner or after another quite different manner yet all without offending God But I am not easily to be persuaded that the things we now speak of can be called Indifferent For I pray tell me Was it not well done by your Magistrate and by that of Geneva when they burnt these two ancient Hereticks and this last Jew If it was well done it was not therefore a thing Indifferent and they could not have omitted the doing of it without offending God If they did well in their procedure methinks you cannot deny but that the Dutch do very ill in tolerating and protecting the Socinians who as to the main hold the same Errours as those ancient Hereticks unless you would haply affirm That there are some things in reference to Religion which may be done after one way in Switzerland and at Geneva and after another way in the Low-Countries For I cannot comprehend how one and the same Religion can incline some of those who profess it to do things directly contrary to those which the others do Moreover I do not think that you will be so confident as to affirm that it was a thing indifferent for your Magistrate and for him of Geneva to put those two unforunate Hereticks to death You have too great a respect for your Lords and Superiours to charge them with the Odium of so rigorous an Execution if they had not been thereto oblig'd by the Precepts of their Religion If the Magistrates of the Low-Countries are of the same Religion as yours why does it not induce them to follow the same Practice in reference to the same Hereticks or others who are yet more dangerous In short I would make this Interrogatory to
you will alwayes persist in this Sentiment but though you do I shall not forbear remaining Reverend Sir Your most c. Vtrecht May 13 th 1673 The Fifth LETTER Reverend Sir IF I am not mistaken I have by irrefragable reasons proved That the States-General cannot be said to be of the Reformed Religion But you will say If they are not of our Religion what Religion may they be said to be of I must confess they are of the Reformed Religion if to be so there needs no more than an external profession of it no more than to have ordain'd by a publick Decree That our Religion should be the Religion of State and that all those wâ—o would have any concern in the Government should make publick profession thereof and that there should be publick Schools for the Teaching of it If these things make a sufficient Title to the Reformed Religion this State is doubtless of that Religâ—on But if as I think I have made it sufficiently appear This State follows a practice quite contrary to all Governments of that Religion and does by its Conduct and its own Confession of Faith and the publict Decree whereby it establish'd our Religion to be the Reliâ—ion of State destroy that very Religion let what will be said I maintain That this State is not of our Religion but only as to the denomination and not in effect If you are pleas'd to remember Reverend Sir what I have hitherto told you all-along you will find it manifest That as Liberty of Conscience was established by the first Ordinances which they made in this Country so it may be said with reason That this State consonantly to its own Principles is and ought to be of all Religions And if it be of all Religions it may well be said That it has not any particular Religion nor indeed that it has not any at all True it is That there is one of them which is very common to most of the Inhabitants of the Country to wit that of Aâ—arice which the Scripture calls Idolatry Mammon has a vast nuâ—ber of Votaries in these parts and there is no question to be made of his being better serv'd here than the true God is by most Christians If we consider the whole course of Life amongst the Dutch as also the earnestness and application wherewith they are addicted to Commerce we cannot forbear acknowledging That the only design they seem to have is to grow rich and heap up Money There comes into my mind upon this occasion what I read in an Italian Relation of a certain Voyage of the Dutch That being come into the Cities of Japan out of which there had been an expulsion of all the Christians and the Inhabitants of the Country having ask'd them whether they were Christians they confidently answer'd Siamo Holandesi non Siamo Christiani We are Hollanders we are not Christians And indeed their deportment since as well in the Indies as in some other remoto places makes it evidently appear that they are extreamly concern'd for the advancement of their Commerce and not any thing at all for that of Religion All other sorts of Christians as well Roman-Catholicks as Protestants the Dutch only excepted if they may be admitted among the latter make the Colonies they have in those remote parts of the World promotive to the advancement of Christian Religion by causing it to be Preached to the Infidels This we see practic'd by the Catholicks with so great Zeal by the great number of Missionaries whom they send into the East and West-Indies and into the Turkish Empire to Preach the Gospel and to Convert those People to the Faith of Jesus Christ Nay this is also done by the English who send Ministers of the Gospel into all parts where they have Colonies and order all the Directors of their Companies not to spare any thing for the advancement of Christian Religion and the conversion of Infidels And so indeed as well the Catholicks as the Protestants make Use of Commerce as of a means to advâ—nce the Religion of Jesus Christ and to bring those Idolatrous People to his Faith But the Dutch on the contrary out of a detestable impiety are absolutely neglectful of all the Interests of Religion in the Indies in the Levant and other Places where they have great Colonies that they may do nothing prejudicial to the Interests of their Commerce They give express and peremptory Orders to the Directors of their Companies and the Commanders of great Places to hinder the Unbelieving Inhabitants of those parts from coming to the knowledg of the Mysteries of Christian Religion and being Converted to the Faith of Jesus Christ It is their persuasion That if some amongst those People were once become Christians they might by the Conversation they should have with other Christians come to the knowledg of that grand Mystery of Commerce and deprive them of some part of their Trade They would rather see all those People Perish eternally in their Ignoâ—â—â—ce than to see their Eyes open'd by the illuminations of Heaven and that they should share with them in the advantages of their Commerce Is it not a horrid thing that the consideration of a Temporal Interest and Concern should stifle all Sentiments of Piety Charity and the Zeal they ought to have for the advancement of Christian Religion in a sort of people who would pass for Christians nay pretend to be of that division of Christians who assume the Title of Reformed We need only take an Observation of their Conduct in those Countries to make a discovery that they take not the least care in the World for the settlement of Religion there and that the only Concern they have to mind there is to see their Commerce in a stourishing condition You will be fully satisfi'd of the truth of what I tell you when you shall have understood some of the remarkable Actions which the Dutch have done in the Cities of Japan and in some other Cities of the East-Indies There were in the Territories of the Emperor of Japan many Portugueze-Merchants and a very great number of persons born in the Country who were Christians and had been converted by the Jesuits and other Catholick-Emissaries The Dutch who do all they can to be alone in those remote places and to get all other European Natives out of them that all the Trade may be at their sole disposal found a means to make all the Roman-Catholicks odious to the Emperor that so he might have an occasion to Banish them out of his Dominions To that end they inform'd him that those Catholicks had the Pope for their Head to whom they render'd an implicite obedience so far as that he did dispense with and discharge them of that subjection which they ought to their lawful Sovereigns Consequently to this they represented to that Prince that it was dangerous for him to have in his Country so great a number of Subjects who acknowledging elsewhere a Sovereign
Power superior to his might upon the reception of such a Command from it rebell against him That Prince having by this malicious information conceived a very great Distrust of all the Christians in general resolv'd upon an absolute extermination of them and that not any one should ever be suffer'd to live in his Territories All the Cruelties which the ancient Tyrants ever inflicted upon Christians are no great mattter in compâ—rison of whâ—t that Prince exercisâ—â— upon the Catholicks who were found in his Dominions He put all to death with grievous yet long-lasting Torments nay there were many cut off who were not Christians upon a suspicion of their lying conceal'd amongst them that so not one might escape his fury After so Bloody and Cruâ—l an Execution he put fâ—â—â—h most severe Edâ—cts by which he Order'd That there should never any Christian bâ— permitted to enter into his Territories The Dutch having crept in there as I told you before by a flat denial of their being Christians acknowledg'd afterwards that they were indeed some of those people to whom that name was given but that for their parts they minded only their Trade and never troubled themselves with any thoughts of their Religion They voluntarily made this Profer that they would never speak to the Inhabitants of the Country either of God or of Jesus Christ or his Religion nor perform any Exâ—rcise of it themselves and that they would so live as that it should not be known that they ever were Christians The Emperor of Japan finding the Dutch so well inclin'd was of Opinion That he had no cause to be afraid of them though they were Chris\tians since they promis'd to live at such a Rate as if in effect they were not such He thereupon permitted them to live iâ— his Territories upon the conditions which they had propos'd themsâ—lves The Dutch who never executed any Treaty when it was more for their advantage to violate it did very Sincerely and Religiously observe this with the Emperor of Japan because it is destructive to the Interests of Religion and highly beneficial to them upon the scâ—re of Trade They have ever since Liv'd and still do Live in the Dominions of that Prince without the performance of any Function of God's Service without having the Bible or any other Godly Book or Treatise of Piety for the doing of their Devotions in private But I am withal to â—â—ll you Reverend Sir That what you read of these Transactions of the Dutch in those remote parts of the World you are not so to look upon as if that so detestable an Agreement made with the Emperour was the private determination of a certain number of Dutch Merchants resident in those Parts but you are to consider what they did as done by the express Order of the Directors of the Company establish'd in that Country who have ratify'd it and promoted the execution of it All the Dutch who are return'd into this Country since that Treaty was made having publish'd it all that have any concern for Vertue and Christianity in these Provinces have express'd themselves much astonish'd thereat The Ministry made some stirr about it and there have been several Acts made in their Synods in order to the making of Remonstrances and Complaints thereof to the States-General I cannot precisely tell what Resolution tha States-General have yet taken thereupon but I know that they have not taken any for the breaking off of so Impious and so Scandalous a Treaty Their deportment in this very case may justly create a belief That they are of the Sentiment of that Renegado Jew Spinosa of whom I have already given you an account though he has not any thing of Christianity It is that Author's design in his Treatise called Tractatus Theologo-Politicus pag. 62. of the Latine Edition to prove That Baptisme the Sacrament of the Eucharist Prayers and all the external Functions of Gods Service which are and ever have been common to all Christians in case they were appointed by Jesus Christ or his Apostles of which he saies that he is not assur'd were appointed as he maintains but only as external signs of the Universal Church and not as things any way conducive to Beatitude or having any sanctity in themselves and that they who live in Solitude are not oblig'd to the performance of them And that they who have their Habitations in remote Countries where the Exercise of the Christian Religion is prohibited are oblig'd to abstain from those Ceremonies and may yet do well enough in order to a happy life To prove the Proposition which he advances he alledges the example of what the Dutâ—h do in Japan In which Country the Christian Religion being prohibited he affirms That the Dutch are oblig'd by the command of the Directors of the East-India Company to forbear performing the exercise thereof From whence it may be deduc'd That that Action of the Dutch in Japan done and maintain'd by a publick Authority must needs be impious and detestable since this Author who makes an open profession of Atheisme makes Use of it as an irrefragable Reason to prove That all the external Services of the Christian Religion are not at all contributory to or advancive of satisfaction and that men may be never the less happy though they never mind them But if without any regard to the Sentiment of that Atheist you consider that Action in it self what could you imagine in the World of greater horror than that some Christians who wâ—uld pass for such as are of the Calvinistical way of Reformation could ever be induc'd to make an express prohibition and â—n absolute retrenchment of all exercise of Religion to their people in a â—ountry that they may there have a quiet exercise of their Trade And therefore I hope Reverend Sir that however you may have an over passionate kindness for the Dutch yet you will not have the confidence to deny their being guilty of the highest impiety in Sacrificing the interests of Christian Religion to their Commerce and Trade and making no Conscience or being any way concerâ—'d to see so many Persons live and Die without the exercise of any Religion as if they were without God and without hope only to make an unhappy profit by the loss of their Souls If you have had any account of the dreadful Execution which was committed by the same Dutch in the Island of Amboyna in the Year 1622 it is impossible but you must acknowledg that there is not any consideration of Religion able to divert them from the exercising of all sorts of Cruelties when the Dispute is about their interest and profit There were not Twenty English-men in that place and the Dutch had there a very grâ—aâ— Colony and a well fortifi'd Castle with a good Garrison in it They accus'd the English of having a design to take that Câ—stle though they had neither Arms nor Forces They are taken into custody upon that pretended Conspiracy
the very time when for the compleating of the Impiety it order'd Prayers to be made to God in the Churches for their Preservation This puts me in mind of the Emperour Charles the Fifth who caus'd publick Prayers to be made all over Spain for the Liberty of Pope Clement the Second whom he himself kept a Prisoner at Rome in the Castle of Saint Angelo But there are yet some particular circumstances in this action of the Dutch which do very much aggravate the horrour and perfidiousness of it In the first place then before the doing of any act of hostility against those of Rochell and before they had made any declaration of being enemies they endeavour'd by Surprize to become Masters of the Port. Though what I say seems strange and at some distance from credibility yet is there not any thing in the world more true An illustrious person amongst the Dutch and the Author before by me cited when I gave you an account of the affair of Amboyna I mean Aitzema in the Book entituled The Lyon Combatant pag. 241. sets down at large this History of the design which the Dutch had to surprize Rochell Take here in express terms what he saies of it On the fourth of July in the Year 1625. Hautyn Admirall of Holland appeared before Rochell with nineteen men of War The Inhabitants of Rochell writ to him as did also the Count Dela Val to let him know what astonishment they were in to see him in the posture of an enemy as being not able to imagine that either the States or the Prince of Orange would have entred into a war against the Reformed Religion Hantyn told those who had brought him the Letters that he could not return them any answer still he had had some conference with those of the King's Councel The next day he sent them back to Rochell with two of his own people and told them That he knew not whether they were come by the order of all the Inhabitants or of some part of them only and that he was going to send to them to be assur'd of it and that in case they continu'd in their subjection to the King they were not to fear any harm In the mean time those Deputies having left him in order to their going to Rochell he came up with part of his Fleet very near the City which gave occasion to two men of Rochell whom he had kept aboard to tell him That he did not deal fairly Monsieur de Soubize having perceiv'd that he was advanc'd with a good number of Ships made him stand off and one or two days after he absolutely defeated him burnt his Vice-Admiral and four or five Ships and kill'd him five hundred men so that the whole Fleet being in great disorder got away as far as Nantes And this was the unhappy success which that perfidious man had who under pretence of friendship would have surpriz'd the City and so betray'd it to the King After Hauntyn had refitted his Fleet he joyns that of the most Christian King commanded by Monsieur de Montmorency who would fight that of the Rochellers assoon as he came in sight of it But news was brought him That the Dutch Admiral would not be concern'd in the action for this reason no doubt that he was afraid to be beaten once moro Montmorency presses him and conjures him not to desert him in so important an occasion He alledges for his Excuse as we find in Gramond Hist Gall. pag. 635 and 636. That without an express Command from the States he durst not employ their Ships to give a decisive battel to the Protestants of France who were of the same Religion with his Masters Mons de Montmorency being extreamly troubled that the Dutch did by their refusal to fight defeat him of the Fame which he expected infallibly to acquire by the Victory was forc'd after a fruitless application of intreaties and promises to make Use of an expedient which ever prevails with the Dutch He with good palpable money corrputed their whole Fleet and engag'd the Admiral the Commanders and the Soldiers by oath to fight against those of Rochell So the most Christian King's Fleet being reinforc'd with that of the Dutch de Montmorency gave an absolute defeat to that of the Rochellers commanded by Mons de Soubixe So that the Inhabitants of that City could not equip another and from that very day lost the Soveraignty of that Sea which they had kept for some time Whereupon they having no Fleet and that of the most Christian King having the absolute command of the Sea his Land-Army undertook that memorable work of the Digue The City finding it self depriv'd of all hopes of relief surrender'd to the King after the endurance of incredible inconveniences by famine during so long a Siege If the Dutch had sent in this assistance to his most Christian Majesty by vertue of any Treaties of Allyance which they had had with him there would not have been any thing to quarrel at in the said Action But is it not an infamous thing that after they had plainly alledg'd their not being empower'd to fight against those of the Reformed Religion without an express command from the States they should nevertheless be lur'd in by money to do a thing which they knew to be contrary to their duty and might have contributed to the ruine of all those who profess'd the Reformed Religion in France if the most Christian King had had any such design as some imputed to him And by this you may judge of the Friendship which the Dutch have for those of the Reformed Religion since they make no scruple to hire out themselves and their Ships to be assistant in their extermination If you can without passion examine all I have written to you concerning the Dutch I am confident you will not persist any longer in the good opinion you have hitherto had of them But I think you will hardly be induc'd to lose it because you are extremely propossess'd in their favour Mean time since I look upon you as a very just and rational Person I hope you will not think it much to aquaint me with the Reasons which you may have had for your not being mov'd with those which you have reciev'd from me Shew me that there is not any ground in all those by which I have pretended to prove That the Vnited Provinces are not of the Reformed Religion according to the Calvinisticall way of Reformation Make it appear to me that you have done well in endeavouring to make an insurrection in your Canton about the Regiment which you had rais'd for his most Christian Majesty and that all those of the Reformed Religion ought to unite together for the relief of the Dutch in the present War between them and the most Christian King If you can prove all these things to me I assure you I shall submit to your Reasons And I shall moreover give my thanks for your deliverance of me out of the errour in which I have hitherto continu'd and for the illuminations I shall receive from your documents This I do sincerely promise you as also that howe'ere it may happen I shall ever be Reverend Sir Your most humble c. Vtrecht May 19 th 1673. FINIS