had none from the Council appears not only by his silence but by Soave's History pages 298. 307. which I shall cite in the following Objection That the Safe-conduct which he had from the Emperour was never intended to hinder the Council's proceeding against him according to the Canons is manifest not only by what has been already said but by the Emperour's Letters of Publick Faith dated from Spire Octob. 18. 1414. extant in Goldastus his Appendix Documentorum ad Commentarios de Regni Bohemiae Juribus Privilegiis p. 81. We heartily recommend to all every one of you the honourable Master John Huss Batchelor of Divinity Master of Arts the Bearer of These whom We have taken into Our protection Safeguard of the Holy Empire passing from the Kingdom of Bohemia to the General Council which is shortly to be held in the City of Constance Desiring you to receive him kindly treat him favourably whensoever he shall come unto you and that you will ought to shew your readiness in promoting what belongs to his speed safety either by Land or Water permitting also him his servants his horses all things else beionging to him freely without any hindrance to passe to stop to stay to return by any passages ports bridges lands dominions jurisdictions cities towns castles villages whatsoever places of yours without any expence of tribute toll or any other payment And that you will ought for the honour respect of our Majesty to provide Secure Safe conduct for him his when occasion shall ' require All this the Emperour commanded as much as lay in Him And in all this his subjects obeyd as much as lay in them He had no Authority over the Council in matters of Religion Nor do I find the least syllable of any promise made by the Emperour to him that the Council should not proceed against him according to Law He came upon his good behaviour and in his own defence confiding in his own prudence and abilities as well as in the Emperour's Letters in which there is no sign of these two promises 1. that he should not be imprison'd if by any misdemeanour he deserv'd it 2. that he should nor be executed if legally condemn'd Both these promises were plainly included in the Extraordinary Safe-conduct which the Tridentine Council granted to the Protestants And therefore as I told you in the beginning The Case was quite different Read Soave and if you believe him you 'l begin to be asham'd of your objection * p. 348 Conc. Trid Sess 15. 18. The Synod doth make Faith to all Priests Princes Persons of what condition soever ... Safe conduct to come remain PROPOSE speak IN THE SYNOD to HANDLE EXAMINE WHAT THEY THINK FIT. give Articles confirm them ANSWER the OBJECTIONS of the Council DISPUTE with those whom it doth elect declaring that the CONTROVERSIES in this Council shall be handled according to the HOLY SCRIPTURE Traditions of the APOSTLES approv'd COUNCILS Consent of the CATHOLICK CHURCH Authority of the Holy FATHERS adding that they SHALL NOT BE PUNISH'D upon PRETENCE OF RELIGION or OFFENCES COMITTED or which WILL BE COMMITTED ... and shall RETURN when it shall seem good unto them WITHOUT LET with SAFETY OF THEIR ROBE HONOUR PERSONS but with the knowledg of the Deputies of the Synod that provision may be made for their Security granting that in this Safe-coduct ALL those CLAUSES be held to be included which are NECESSARY FOR REAL FULL ASSURANCE Adding that if any of the Protestants either in coming or in Trent or in returning SHALL COMMIT ANY ENORMITY which shall NULLIFIE THE BENEFIT OF THIS PUBLICK FAITH he shall be PUNISH'D BY THEIR OWN Protestant JUDGES so that the Synod may be satisfied and on the other side if any Catholick in coming hither remaining here or returning SHALL COMMIT ANY THING which may VIOLATE THIS SAFE CONDUCT he shall be punish'd by the Synod WITH APPROBATION OF THE GERMAN Protestant 's THEMSELVES who shall be present in Trent .... which things it promiseth faithfully in the name of all faithfull Christians Ecclesiastical Secular If Huss Jerome had come to Constance with such a Safe-conduct they had neither been imprison'd nor executed With such a one as this the Bohemians went afterwards to Basil were civilly used return'd quietly home With this the Wittenberg Protestants went to Trent remain'd quiet there return'd without receiving any affront That no more of the Protestants follow'd their example in going thither was their own fault They knew very well they might have gone remain'd return'd securely if they pleas'd Confider all this at leisure and then tell me if you can what 's become of your Excuse XI The Councils of Constance Sienna had declared it lawfull to break the faith of any Safe-conduct whatsoever A. Read the Decrees you 'l plainly see the contrary The Council of Constance dos not say 't is lawfull for any whosoever they are to violate the faith of their promises but only declares that no Secular Power can legally hinder the exercise of Ecclesiustical Jurisdiction because it is not only independent of it but manifestly superior to it in matters of Religion T is a common Maxim of the Law Superior legibus aut pactis Inferioris non ligatur And in all appearance the design of the Council was to satisfie the World that although the Emperour had pretended to grant an Extraordinary Safe-conduct such as exempts a man from Justice as well as Violence it could nor have hindred the supreme Power of Pope Council from proceeding according to the Canons in Causes which are purely of Religion This was the reason why the Protestants would not rely upon the Emperour 's Safe-conduct Nor can I blame them for it See Soave p. 298. Duke Maurice wrote to the Emperour that his Safe-conduct was not sufficient For in the Council of Constance it was determin'd that THEY MIGHT PROCEED AGAINST THOSE THAT CAME TO THE COUNCIL THOUGH THEY HAD SAFE-CONDUCT FROM THE EMPEROUR And that therefore the Bohemians would not go Basil but under the Publick Faith of the whole Council See p. 307. The Ambassadors went all together to the Presidents told them that the Emperour had given the Protestants a Safe-conduct but that they were not contented with it alledging that it was decreed in the Council of Constance and really executed that THE COUNCIL IS NOT bound BY THE SAFE-CONDUCT OF ANY WHOSOEVER HE BE therefore they required one from the Synod These Protestants you see understood the Council in the same sense as I do How come you to understand it otherwise Let the Decree speak for it self judge case betwixt us It runs thus Presens Sancta Synodus ex QUOVIS SALVO CONDUCTU per Imperatorem Reges alios Seculi Principes HAERETICIS vel de Haeresi diffamatis putantes eosdem sic a suis erroribus
284. Not only the Protestants did impugn his Authority but many Princes also would restrain it many Bishops did think to moderate it * p. 205. The Spaniards had a secret which they communicated only among themselves to make great the Episcopal Authority so that the Pope could not restrain it The French had * p. 522. ever pretended to limit the Pope's power subject it to the Canons Councils * p. 34â— The Emperour's Ambassadors had given the Protestants hope to moderate the Papal Authority said that they expected to see a Gate laid open by their negotiation that afterwards they might second it and Julius III. had intelligence that the Emperour had a design to advance himself by debasing of the Papacy This was enough to make the Popes of that Age take care to look before they leap'd But yet this was not all if Soave says true The * p. 17. Governours of Countries regarded not much what the Council might determine concerning Doctrines but desired it might be such a one as might reduce the Priests Friers to their beginning hoping that by that means the regalities temporal jurisdictions might return unto them And therefore they said it was in vain to call a Council where the Bishops other Prelates only should have a deliberative voice because they ought to be reform'd and it was necessary that others should have the charge thereof who could not be deceiv'd by their proper interests Here you see in plain English what the Reformation was like to come to 1. The design was laid to bring the Ecclesiasticks to their beginning They were to be brought to their Staff and Scrip again sent about their business whilst the Reformers plunder'd the Church divided the spoiles 2. To do it with more ease it was in vain to call a Council of Bishops but the Laity were to have the charge thereof who could not be deceiv'd by their proper interests This Reason I confess if it had taken place would have been worth it's weight in gold but pray give me leave to make the case your own Suppose a man should demand your purse and upon refusal tell you He is the better Judge whether or no you ought to deliver because your interest blinds you but He cannot be deceiv'd by his proper interest Would you believe this honest Gentleman How did you like this method of Reforming when our English Rebels threw the Sovereignty out of doors the Church of England out of the windows Did you fancy that those Church-and-State-Menders deserv'd to have the charge of those matters and that it was necessary they should have it because they could not be deceiv'd by their proper interests If such a Throughout-Reformation as this had been effectually procured All had been well Complaints would then have ceas'd because there would have been nothing left to complain of The Reformers would have reduced the Pope the Cardinals the Bishops Priests Friers to their beginning which in plain English is little better than reducing them to their end The Faction would then have triumph'd according to their hearts desire just as our Rebels did when they had brought our Monarchy to it's beginning by beheading of the Government But this not being effected All the rest was nothing to the purpose One would think that eleven or twelve Decrees containing above 140. chapters of Reformation might be some degree of satisfaction to any reasonable men But when people are disappointed in their principal design right or wrong 't is all the same they are out of humour and when they are so t is a hard matter to please them This was the reason why the Lutheran Criticks were so sharp in censuring ridiculing the Decrees as soon as each Session of the Council was publish'd in Germany p. 504. The Birth of the Mountains was a proverb much in vogue which Soave has recorded in more places than one though otherwise worded The travail of the mountains and the nativity of the mouse an expression proper enough to let us understand what vast projects they had laid of reducing all things to their beginning how much they were disappointed in them since what was decreed by the Council compar'd with what they would have done themselves was no more than a mouse to a mountain In the same page he goes on Concerning the Reformation it was said that more light points could not be handled nor more lightly and that they did imitate the Physician who in a hectical body laboured to kill the Itch. This was another pleasant jest which Soave took care of for fear it should be lost But let him jest as he pleases the Itch he talks of is not so easily cured This humour of Reforming is a very itching humour And the Itch is a strange restless disease Even the wiser sort of mankind when they have once got it cannot for their lives forbear Scratching though they know by experience that it dos more harm than good Read the Decrees of Reformation from the beginning to the end and if you read them with a serious attention I am very confident an impartial man as you are will not say they are either light or lightly handled If you have the Council in your Library I had rather you would read them there than in Soave who I must needs tell you is not so exact as I could wish him Under pretence of relating the substance he leaves out a great many circumstances which a curious man would be desirous to know And besides although I have compar'd a very small part of his translation with the original I find several mistakes in it p. 503. n. 1. he reads is for is not p. 692. n. 12. he reads six for five p. 733. n. 2. he reads two for three p 753. n. 1. of two express commands he has made only one exhortation Such negligences as these are enough to make me suspect him in other matters are a great argument that it was more his business to find fault with the Reformation than to give an exact account of it But whether you consult the Council or his History that you may find out all the Decrees in order without any trouble I have directed you to all the Sessions of the one pages of the other V. 173.174 VI. 211.212 VII 247.248 XIII 320.321 XIV 331.332.333.334 XXI 503. XXII 537.538 XXIII 691.692.693 XXIV 730.731.732.733.734.735 XXV 751.752.753.754.755.756 And for your better satisfaction I have set down some few instances of Soave's Translation comparing it with the Original enclosing what he has either alter'd or omitted in a parenthesis like this 1. Concerning Scripture The first point of Reformation in the first chapter of the first Decree is this * p. 173. n. 1. that in the Churches where there is a stipend allotted for reading Divinity the Bishop should provide that the Holy Scripture should be read by the Stipendary if he be
cutting them up by the Roots I had almost quite forgot to tell you that in the end of the General Reformation the Council has taken particular care that no Dispensing power may obstruct the force benefit of the Decrees Be it known to all men says the Council * p. 756. n. 18. that the Canons shall be observed exactly indistinctly by all shall not be dispensed but for an urgent and just cause heard with great maturity without cost by whosoere they are to whom it appertains Otherwise the Dispensation shall be judg'd Surreptitious If the Cause be not only just but urgent if the justice and urgency be well known before the grant of it if nothing be given to any whosoever for it Such a Dispensation is unquestionably blameless And now I desire to know How was it possible for the Council to provide more effectually for the punctual observance of all these three conditions than by declaring that otherwise the Dispensation is shall be surreptitious of no effect XXXI In the end of the Council there was great joy in Rome for having cheated the world and advanced their interest where they fear'd to have their wings clipp'd A. Here I know not how you 'l be able to make the two ends of Soave's History meet In his first book he talks much at this rate and in his last he largely contradicts it He tells us in the end how the Pope and Cardinals deliberated upon the matter whether or no the Decrees of Reformation were to be confirmed And says that * p. 759. the Court understanding that the Pope was resolved upon the Confirmation chang'd their joy into grief All the Officers complain'd of the losses they should receive in their offices if that Reformation were executed ... Supplications also Memorials were given to the Pope by those who having bought their Offices foreseeing this loss demanded restitution ... The Pope having diligently consider'd thereof deputed eight Cardinals to consult upon the Confirmation to think upon some remedies for the complaints of the Court ... He concludes It is certain that they who did procure the Council had no aim but to pull down the Pope's Authority And while the Council did last every one did speak as if it had power to give Laws to him After all you think to mortifie me with objecting that the corruptions of the Court the abuses tolerated in the Church are as great as ever But you must give me leave to tell you 1. I am not obliged to take your bare word for 't 2. Whether it be true or false 't is nothing to my present purpose If false you are to blame for saying so If true 't is none of the Council's fault Having proceeded legally having made good Laws the Council has done its part 't is ours to do the rest My business is to defend the Council I have nothing to do to rake the dunghill of the Church Has the Decalogue less Authority because the greatest part of mankind are so disobedient Or is the Ghospel less Sacred because there are so few who live according to the maxims of it If this be the onely reason why you Protest against the Council of Trent because the Decrees of Reformation are not every where in all things punctually observ'd I see no reason why you may not with as good a grace Protest against the Ghospel the Ten Commandments I have now done with your Objections And although I am not of the Poet's mind that Brevity is always good be it or be it not understood Yet I have endeavour'd to be as short as possibly I could because when I deal with a man of your parts a word is enough to the wise few words are best As for Soave whom you so much admire I desire to ask you a few questions before I tell you what I think of him Suppose a mortal enemy of yours should Libel you by the way of History call you Rogue Rascal in the very Preface and at the same time perswade his Reader that he follows exactly the truth Would you have me take this Author for an Oracle Would you not think me reasonable if I suspected almost every word he said And ought not I to do the Council as much Justice as I would my Friend T is certain that Soave was a mortal enemy of the Council In the very beginning he declares it He says * p. 2. it has caused the greatest deformation that ever was calls it the Iliad of the Age which is as kind a compliment to the Fathers as if he had call'd them a pack of Villains He tells us indeed in the same place that he is not possess'd with any passion which may make him erre and this was well enough said But how shall a body do to believe him If it were your own case I 'm sure you would not like my being credulous And how do I know but that an Enemy of the Council may deserve as little credit as an Enemy of yours Another reason why I do not like him is because he takes upon him to write men's private thoughts with as much assurance as he writes their words and actions He hardly ever speaks of any intelligence coming to Rome but he entertains his Reader with a pleasant Scene in which he brings the Pope alone upon the Stage discoursing with himself his secret apprehensions deliberations upon every matter such thoughts as no wise man would trust his neighbour with although he were the best surest friend he had in the world How Soave could possibly come to any certain knowledg of such things I am not able to comprehend And truly if a man in one case will tell me more than he can know I have just reason to be afraid that in another he 'l tell me more than he dos know A third reason which weighs more with me than all the rest is this You tell me on the one side He was a Popish Frier And on the other I cannot believe but that although perhaps for some reasons he did not openly profess it He was really a Protestant It appears so plainly by his censuring the Decrees of Doctrine as well as those of Reformation by the severe reflections of his own which he intermixes with those of the Lutheran Criticks that I do not conceive how any man of sense who reads him with attention can be of another opinion Had he been a barefaced Protestant I should be more inclined to believe him There is something of integrity honour in a man that openly professes what he is And although passion prejudice may blind him yet I am apt to think that such a person will never deceive me more than he deceives himself But a Protestant that lives dies in the profession of a Popish Frier How can I believe his words when the most serious of his actions are only so many lies For my own part I would as soon make choice of a Catholick Jew to comment upon the Ghospel to write the life of Christ as I would choose a Protestant Frier to write the History of a General Council Before I end my Letter give me leave once more to mind you of the Discourse we had when we saw one another last We both agreed that * C. II. p. 1. it were a very irrational thing to make Laws for a Country leave it to the inhabitants to be the Interpreters Judges of those Laws for then every man will be his own Judge by consequence no such thing as either Right or Wrong that * ibid. therefore we cannot suppose that God Almighty would leave us at those Uncertainties as to give us a Rule to go by leave every man to be his own Judge that * ib. Christ left his Spirit Power to his Church by which they were the Judges even of the Scripture it self many years after the Apostles-which Books were Canonical which were not that * ibid. p. 2. the Judgment of the Church is without Appeal otherwise what they decide would be no farther to be follow'd than it agrees with every man's private Judgment that because in the Apostles Creed we believe in the Holy Catholick Church therefore we ought to believe in the first four General Councils which were true legal Representatives of it And lastly that if the Council of Trent were prov'd to be as General as free as legal in all it's circumstances as any of the first four Councils were then you must needs own your self obliged in Conscience to submit to it to leave of Protesting against it This last part I have here endeavour'd to prove out of Soave himself your own Historian who always makes the worst of things never speaks a favourable word but when the Power of Truth constrains him to it If I have not perform'd according to expectation 't is your own fault who are to blame for having a better opinion of me than I deserve I am no Doctor nor Graduate but every way unfit to be a Champion of the Cause Yet having receiv'd your Commands I have just reason to expect that you will easily pardon a man who in this occasion is guilty of no other crime than being ready to shew himself Sept. 22. 1686. Your Obedient Servant N. N. Page 70. line 1. read rewarded p. 75. * 4. r. ch 14. p. 76. l. 8. r. his 9. book p. 85. l. 26. r. many p. 86. l. 29. r. the year 831. p. 89. l. 8. dele de p. 114. l. 21. r. his 2. book p. 152. l. 27. r. shut out p. 161. l. 6. r. it has p. 165. l. 1. r. your p. 168. l. 5. r. haereticis p. 172. l. 3. dele an p. 176. l. 26. r. in this p. 189. l. 22. r. to Basil p. 190. l. 9. r. the case ibid. l. 13. r. HAERETICIS p. 194. l. 1. r. another p. 225 l. 3. r. Charles II. p. 240. * 2. r. 590. FINIS
fit and not being fit the Bishop should depute a Substitute to perform the charge But for hereafter that the Benefice should not be conferred but upon a sufficient person That in the Cathedral Churches of populous Cities Collegiate Churches of great Castles where no such stipend is assign'd the first Prebend that falleth void should be applied to that use or a simple Benefice or a contribution of all Beneficed men to institute the Lecture And again concerning * p. 693. n. 18. the institution of Seminaries it was constituted that every Episcopal Church should have a certain number of boys brought up in a Colledge to learn among other things the Holy Scripture All this * Sess 5. c. 1. The Holy Synod ordereth decreeth least that heavenly Treasure of Sacred Books which the Holy Ghost has so liberally bestow'd upon mankind should lye neglected 2. Concerning Ecclesiasticks * p. 732. n. 1. The Decrees of Reformation did contain That whosoever have right in the Promotion shall be admonished that it is a mortal sin if they shall not use all diligence to promote the most worthy most profitable to the Church And it was added How necessary it is that the Pope in regard of his Duty should endeavour to assume Cardinals of most excellent worth to provide the Church of fit Pastors because if the flock should perish by the evil government of persons negligent forgetfull of their duty Christ will demand an account of his Holiness * p. 733. n. 3. That Patriarchs Primates Metropolitans Bishops shall be bound to visit their proper Diocess ... That the Visitor shall go with a modest train of men horses dispatching the Visitation as soon as may be and shall not receive any money or present whatsoever it be or in what manner soever it be offered but frugal moderate Diet ... * ibid. n. 4. That the Bishops shall be bound to preach in person or having a lawfull impediment by others And in case the Parish Priest be hindred that he cannot preach in his own Church he shall at his charge maintain another to do it deputed by the Bishops ... That the Bishop shall admonish every one that where it may conveniently be done he ought to go to his own Parish to hear the Sermon and that None either Secular or Regular even in the Churches of their own Order shall preach against the Bishop's will * p. 734 n. 10. That where Visitation or Correction of manners is in question no exemption or appeal though to the Apostolick See shall any way hinder or suspend the execution of that which is decreed or adjudged * p. 735. n 17. That no Ecclesiastical person though a Cardinal shall have more than one Benefice which not being able to maintain him another simple Benefice may be added so that they do not both require Residence which shall be understood of all Benefices of what title or quality soever though Commended And he that hath now more Benefices than one shall be bound to leave all but one within six months or if not they shall be all void * p. 753. n 1. The Reading of the General Reformation did follow which after an Exhortation to Bishops for exemplary life commandeth not only that they be content with modesty frugality of houshold-stuff table but also that in the rest of their way of living in their whole house nothing may appear but what bears the character of simplicity zeal contempt of Vanities And absolutely doth forbid them to enrich their friends or kindred with the revenues of the Church but if poor to allot them their distribution as to the rest of the poor What has been said of Bishops it Decreeth to be observed by all beneficed Eccleasticks either Secular or Regular and also by the Cardinals Here I have cited only eight points a very inconsiderable part of the whole Reformation which contains above a hundred forty chapters But for a man of your skill a pattern is enough to judge of the whole piece And besides all these Decrees there are also others of Doctrine forbidding condemning several abuses which are worth your taking notice of 1. Concerning Purgatory * p. 75â— The Synod teaches no more than that there is a Purgatory that the Souls detain'd in it are assisted by the suffrages of the faithfull the Sacrifice of the Mass Therefore it doth command Bishops to teach sound doctrine in this matter such as is deliver'd by the Holy Fathers Sacred Councils and cause it to be preached without handling subtil questions before the ignorant people nor suffering uncertain unlikely things to be published Prohibiting curiosities superstition unhonest gain 2. Concerning Masses * p. 537. A Decree was read concerning abuses to be corrected in the celebration of Masses And contain'd in substance that the Bishops ought to forbid all things brought in by Avarice Irreverence or Superstition 3. * p. 751. In matter of Saints it doth command Bishops all others who have the charge of teaching to instruct the people concerning the intercession invocation of them according to the ancient doctrine of the Church consent of Fathers decrees of Councils teaching that the Saints do pray for men that it is profitable to invocate them to have recourse to their prayers assistance to obtain benefits from God through Jesus Christ his Son our Lord who is our onely Saviour Redeemer Concerning Images that those of Christ the Saints ought to have due honour given them but that there is no divinity or virtue in them ... Afterwards it addeth that desiring to take away the abuses occasions of pernicious errors it doth Ordain ... that all Superstition in invocation of Saints in worship of Reliques in use of Images be taken away 4. Concerning Indulgences * p. 757. The Synod doth only anathematize those that shall say they are unprofitable that the Church hath not power to grant them It doth command that all those offices of Pardon-mongers be abolished And for the other abuses which have taken their rise from superstition ignorance irreverence or any other way Whereas they cannot conveniently be forbidden in particular by reason of the manifold corruptions of provinces places where they are committed it doth command the Bishops that every one shall collect all those of his own Church to propose them in the Provincial Synod * p. 733 n. 2. which shall be call'd by the Metropolitan or the most ancient Suffragan within one year at the most after the end of this Synod and afterwards every three years at least Tell me now your opinion concerning these matters All these points are they light and lightly handled Are they all nothing to the purpose Suppose the Vineyard had been a little neglected the Vines wanted pruning Will nothing else serve your turn but reducing them to their beginning