Padri estimò riuscibile Nevertheless if the Pope should observe strictly this moderate Council all would be lost this troubled Alexander VII at his coming to the Popedom for at that time he was very zealous and desirous to re-establish Discipline and retrench Abuses he called to Council the ablest men of the Dattery periti delle facende della Dateria and speaking to them about the Dispensations for Marriages within the prohibited Degrees which were granted so commonly at Rome against the express Prohibition of the Council of Trent he told them he wondred much at so frequent a going against the Decisions of the Council asking them how it could possibly be that it had so passed into a Custom l. 23. c. 18. come passasse questa contrarietà usitata in Roma allo statuto Tridentino That so frequent a contravention against the Judgment of that Venerable Assembly appeared to him little praise-worthy pareva poco lodevole che si frequentemente si repugnasse al giudicio di questa veneranda assemblea They answered him That this Custom began in the time of Pius V a Pope of a signal and severe Goodness and a religious Observer of the Council and that there was no other Reason but that of experience of the Fact Ibid. che la ragione di questo discostamento del decreto Sinodale era stata l'esperienza del fatto He had seen that from the Decree of the Council of Trent ensued great and very considerable inconveniences in practice and therefore that holy Pope made no difficulty to dispense therewith even without having any other cause therefore Thus the Council of Trent for all its Prudence and Moderation suffered it self to be carried too far away with its Zeal and went too far into an Ideal Reformation whereof mischievous inconveniences might have followed if the Prudence of the Popes had not brought a Cure What can be hoped for then from all the other Councils wherein there was never found so much Prudence and Moderation as appeared in this last Council There be a-many other Articles besides that of Marriage wherein there is need that the Pope should give ease against the severity of the Council for example in that which concerns plurality of Benefices if the Pope should not still dispense therewith the Cardinals would have nothing to live on and the Court of Rome would turn Desart l. 12. c. 13. Senato Romano privo di quelle badie rimanerebbe privo del vitto One may see of what importance it is for keeping up the Church to keep up the Splendor of the Court of Rome yet the Council of Trent made no reckoning of it so that what can one hope for from any other Council whatsoever In fine The Council of Trent declared That all the World was obliged to observe its Canons indistinctly and that none should be dispensed with but when there was urgent and just cause urgens justaque ratio and then the Dispensation should be given freely gratis otherwise the same should be null Aliterque facta dispensatio subreptitia censeatur Sess 25. c. 18. But now these Dispensations are not given gratis at the Court of Rome where a great deal is given for them sine causa without any reason but that they pretend that the Money that is gotten thereby contrary to the Council of Trent is a just and pressing consideration for to grant them out l. 23. c. 8. Anzi essere in verità gran ' cagione per dispensare quella grossa multa che l'impetrante si contenta di pagar in aiuto de' poveri e dell'opere pie It is manifest then that even the Reformation of the Council of Trent would be Ideal and of no success riformazione ideale e non riuscibile if it were not judiciously reformed by the Politick Prudence of the Roman Court so that nothing is less useful than Councils and less necessary for governing the Church ARTICLE VIII The Council of Trent it self hath acknowledged That the way to govern the Church is no longer that of Councils and that the Laws which it made were submitted to a Superior Authority THe best one can say of the Council of Trent is That it had the Prudence to insert in its Decrees beginning and ending That it meant in all things that the Authority of the Apostolick See should remain inviolate l. 23. c. 3 8. salva in tutto l'autorità della Sede Apostolica Wherefore quoth our Cardinal I will not quite blame the Fathers of that Council for Decreeing against Plurality of Benefices ne per tutto ciò si vogliono biasimare i padri Tridentini for they had no intention by that Decree to bind his Supremacies Hands whom they had declared all along to be left at full liberty l. 23. c. 11. per ciò che il decroto non intese d'annodar quelle mani supreme che il Concilio si nel principio come nel fine delle sue leggi dichiarò di lasciar disciolte But as in all Policy Sacred or Profane 't is the approbation which the People give unto a Law by their usage thereof that determines the force and the Merit of that Law and when it is doubtful what success it may have 't is prudence to try first if the greatest number will be pleased therewith l. 8. c. 11. è prudenza il tentare ezandio con dubio dell'evento ciò che se riuscisse sarebbe grato al commune It follows that there must be a Superior Authority to derogate from the Laws of a Council or to dispense with them according as usage may require therein or thereabout and this the Council of Trent hath very well acknowledged in declaring it meant not in any sort to tie up the Popes hands insomuch that through an effect of a singular Policy though there should not be so much as one Decree of the Council of Trent observed yet if that were so by the Pope's Order it would be found That nevertheless the Decrees of that Council were kept because he would be obeyed to whom the Council hath left absolute power which reaches as far as to impower him to derogate from the Council's Orders After this fashion is it that our Cardinal maintaining That the Church ought not to be governed by way of Councils and that That of Trent hath upheld the Pope in an Authority over its own doth defend the Judgment of the whole Christian World Assembled in that Council and thus he defends the whole Catholick Church and this is the Ground he hath to call his Book Diffesa del Sacro Concilio di Trento Proem ARTICLE IX Refutation of the Zealot's Fifth Errour That Episcopacy is but one and the same thing in all Bishops This is a Seditious Opinion and destroyes the Allness and Soleness of the Monarchy Ecclesiastick THe Difference about Episcopacy is not concerning the Bishop's power of Order for that 's common to all Bishops of Divine Right There
affectation censures their Actions but this is a common Artifice to seem ingenuous in lesser matters that upon greater occasions one may cozen others with a witness yet those that read him will find that he is very cautious in his censures and takes great care not to blame any of the former Popes for the faults that were too apparent in his Patron P. Alexander the 7th About this one that lived in Rome at that time has published a very pleasant thing Pope Alexander did the first years of his Reign declare loudly against a Nipotismo and had solemnly sworn that he would never admit his Kindred into the Government nor so much as bring them to Rome but when Flesh and Blood grew too strong for these Resolutions he made a shift to satisfie his Conscience about his Oaths and brought them to Rome and put the Government in their hands which they managed with as many scandalous excesses as any had done who had gone before them in that nearness to the infallible Chair But before this was done the first Volume of the Cardinal's History was finished and in it he had laid most of the faults of former Popes on their raising their Families and Kindred and putting the Affairs of the Church in their hands and all this tended to raise the esteem of his Patron who had resolved to root out that Abuse from whence all the rest seem'd to be derived yet the Volume was not publish'd when the Pope had brought his Family to Rome therefore Palavicini finding that what he had intended to set out for the Pope's Honour would tend to his Disgrace and would also draw the Indignation of his Family upon himself suppressed that whole Impression and printed that Volume over again leaving out all the severe reflections he had made on a Pope's raising his Family He vouches his Relations from the Memorials of many of the Prelates and Friars that were at the Council of Trent which he says are to this day preserved and tells in what Libraries they are to be found and offers very fairly full satisfaction to all persons who desire a further information about them If these were lying in Paris or Venice or any other indifferent place some would perhaps adventure to examine these Vouchers but few will hazard on it at Rome Besides there is untoward Jealousie got into the minds of people that they are not over-ingenuous at Rome The forging of the Decretal Epistles and the Donation of Constantine the Great with many other things has given the World such prejudices against what they bring forth of that nature that few will give credit to things that tend much to the advantage of that See and are discovered at Rome when men think they both lie for God and his Vicar and for Preferment too it will be hard to restrain them especially if they be of an Italian temper and of Jesuits principles which to say no worse are not very severe in the matter of Candor and Sincerity We know what a Trade the Monks and Friars drove many Ages by Lies and Forgeries If any thing might either raise the honour of their Order or of the House wherein they lived a miraculous Story was first contrived and either a Writing or some Relick was laid under ground and then another dreams a Dream that such a Saint appeared to him and told him to dig in such a place for such a thing This being published with great ceremony they made a solemn Search and the credulous Rabble were thus cheated It is said of Thieves and Robbers who have driven the Trade long that even after they are discovered and in the Jayl they cannot give it over but must be still practising their old Arts. So Rome has been so long used to Forgeries that after all the Discoveries that are made they cannot hold their hands and this in a great part lessens the Authority of those Journals and other Memorials that have been hid and unknown about a hundred years and at length have appeared to serve a turn But there are two things in the Cardinal's Work which have given great advantages to those who are not much disposed to any high esteem for that Council The one is That though in some circumstances and less material things he has said much to shew that Father Paul's Informations were not just nor exact yet upon the matter he represents the transactions as full of Intrigues Artifices and Faction as the other did only with this Difference That Father Paul laid the heaviest load upon the Legates and the Court-Party and the Cardinal lays it sometimes on the one sometimes on the other Faction but generally on the Party that was for Reformation In a word no man that is not quite blinded with prejudice can think after he has read the Cardinal's History that the Holy Ghost had any special influence on the prevailing Vote in that Council and it is as easie for a man to believe that the Success of a Session of Parliament and those Acts that are carried by the Authority of the Prince the policy and dexterity of the Ministers and the zeal and industry of some Patriots flow from the special direction of the Holy Ghost as that the Council of Trent according to Palavicini's Relation was conducted by the Infallible Spirit of God in making their Canons and Decisions for we plainly see the same Intrigues and Practices the same Arts either to take off or satisfie the opposite party and the same Conduct and Method in the one that is in the other The Resolving the House in a Grand Committee was the ordinary practice of that Council for a General Congregation was the Council in a Grand Committee and this was an excellent Demonstration of the Legates great Distrust of the Holy Ghost For they would never put any thing to the hazard of a Vote in a Session till they were sure of it by putting it to the Vote in a Congregation and if it went not there as they had a mind it should be then they were to practise a little longer till they had made the major Vote sure and then when it passed in a Congregation the Legates held a Session He would be looked on as a man of great extravagance who would study to impose on any body that is acquainted with the Methods of holding Parliaments That there is any other Direction of God's Spirit than that Universal Providence that watcheth over and orders all humane Actions accompanying or governing their Proceedings Men are not so tame as to suffer such Mistakes to pass and he that would make use of his Wit or Eloquence to perswade any to such an Opinion would be so generally cried down that people would not hear him in patience What must we then judge of those who would make us believe that the Council of Trent was infallibly directed when we plainly see by the Historian of their own Court that it was managed with the same secret
Peoples Veneration l. 12. c. 3. questo sapersi da Presidenti Ecclesiastici che il loro potere quanto all'effetto è tutto appoggiato alla venerazione de' popoli which is a warning to them to keep up this Veneration by an exemplary Life abstaining from all which hath the looks of excess Ibid. gli ammonisce à conservarsela con la vita esemplare e ad astenersi da ciò che habbia dell'immoderato ò del violento ARTICLE X. An Example of the Peoples Power in the Church in what passed at Milan and at the Council of Pisa under Louis XII THe Soveraign Authority of the People which renders it self Arbitrator even between Popes and Kings appeared in the People of Pisa and those of Milan under Pope Julius II and the King of France Louis XII Some Cardinals having a mind out of Ambition to be Popes under pretence of reforming the Church as well in Head as Members met in Council at Pisa The Inhabitants of that Town being Subjects of the Commonwealth of Florence were constrained through its Authority to receive into their Town these Cardinals and those of their Party but nevertheless they detested the Assembly of them as Sacrilegious come sacrilega they could not hold from giving them all possible marks of Slight and Abhorrency so that the Council was transferred to Milan The Cardinals of the Faction were received by the People in that Town not as Cardinals whose Dignity is in most great veneration in Christendom but as men infected with the Plague and as Cut-Throats mà come huomini pestiferi e scelerati and as boding Comets which foretel and cause Mischiefs to the Countries over which they appear The French at that time got the Famous Victory at Ravenna against Pope Julius and his Confederates The Popes Nuntio John de Medicis which afterwards succeeded Julius by the Name of Leo X was brought Prisoner to Milan In this condition a wonderful thing even the Souldiers of the French fide could not chuse but yield to their Prisoner as the Legate of the Vicar of Jesus Christ Marks of their utmost Veneration asking Absolution of him for having fought against the Church such power hath the force of Religion over the Spirits of Christian people l. 1. c. 1. tanta nel popolo Christiano è la forza della Religione Mean time what kind of man was this Pope Julius He was fierce-natur'd Ibid. una tal ferocia in whom the Vapors of adust Choler reigned so violently that they carried him out to Feats of War little agreeing with the Holiness of his Degree Ibid. eccesso militare non convenevole alla santità di grado da qualche vampa men regolata di bile accesa He had to do with Louis XII that good King sirnamed The Father of the People which is to say All yet the Subjects of such a King favoured such a Pope what would they have done then if this Popes Virtue had been as sublime as was requisite for him who ought to be adored by the Sirname of most Holy as Mediator between Heaven and Earth This only Example makes it at once to be seen how puissant a Pope is that 's revered by the People and how puissant the People is that is animated by a Spirit of Religion tanta nel popolo Christiano è la forza delle religione But on the other side this Example ought to teach Popes what they are to fear when they abuse their supernatural and divine Authority and do injury to the Secular Power for then the People changing their Veneration into Abomination they abandon his Holiness's Interest and in stead of remaining Superior he becomes slighted See here then the different Interests of Popes and Kings and the politick Reasons that these Powers which are superior of Right and by Authority have to conserve to themselves the succors of that of the People which is always at last the Soveraign by way of Fact and as to the execution and that same which obliges all these Powers to abide within terms of moderation the just temperament whereof makes the Politick Felicity according to the Flesh even in respect of the Christian Republick under the Monarchy of the Soveraign Pontife for to preserve which all the world by consequence is equally obliged through very Natural Love seeing that doth embrace the whole World for its Felicity ARTICLE XI The Pope is not Master of his Authority he is but the Depositary thereof and obliged to preserve it The most pious action of Christian people is to uphold it THe Popes do not reckon themselves Masters of the Apostolical power which is intrusted them they do not believe that they can release the Rights thereof of which they are nothing but Depositaries to hold them and keep them up together and not to permit the diminution of them Thus spoke Pope Clement VII of it l. 3. c. 12. Primato Apostolico di cui non era signore mà custode The Pope may dispose on good consideration of the Things and Persons whereof he is Lord though may be he cannot do it lawfully setting aside Honesty or other Virtues but for what concerns the Rights of the Holy See he cannot permit the diminution thereof neither lawfully nor upon any consideration whatsoever which is so true that Paul IV who thought he might do any thing and that all which he did by virtue of his Authority without having respect to Honesty or other Virtues became honest and lawful l. 14. c. 13. che tutta l'ampiezza del suo potero fosse anche la misura di saggiamente esercitarlo Nevertheless as to the Rights of the Holy See he made no difficulty to acknowledge that he was not absolute Master of them but only Depositary l. 13. c. 15. di quella dignità della quale non era padrone mà oustode And the reason is That the Pope's power in all the extent of it which we have been speaking of is the Publick Good and Felicity of the Church even according to the Flesh secondo la carne now the Publick Good of the Church even according to the Flesh is the greatest of all visible Goods and the most noble Object of all the Virtues and so the most noble action not only of Policy but of Piety that the Pope and Christian people can do is to uphold the Soveraign power of the Pope in the extent of his All-puissantness independant and infinite and to maintain it with vigilance and stoutness l. 5. c. 16. il custodir con intrepidezza e con vigilanza la sovranità del Pontificato è per mio aviso la più commendabile operazione che possa fare la Politica virtuosa perciò che di nessun ' popolo si procura con maggior lodevolezza il prò universale che del popolo più diletto da dio e sedele à dio It remains then to make it evident what it is that
motions and springs by which other Princes carry what they desire from the Assemblies of their several States and I dare safely challenge any that has read that History to shew me any step or motion that is different from all other Secular Councils or that does not clearly shew that they not only did not expect an infallible Direction but knew they had it not and therefore were to supply that defect by other Political Arts and it is an undertaking well worthy of a Jesuit's Candor to perswade the World that the Holy Ghost was among them when their own deportment shews they themselves knew there was no such thing There is another Observation on the Cardinal's History which is the chief Subject of the following Reflections That he knowing most of the abuses in the Court of Rome which from thence have spred over their whole Church were things that could not be denied and that it was no less evident that all the Decrees about Reformation made at Trent have been ever since neglected by the Popes goes about the excusing of that which he could not deny The Scheme he lays down is this That Christ designed a Temporal Monarchy in his Church That men being but a composition of Flesh and Blood we must not expect any high Reformation nor raise things to that pitch that only holy and good men will enter into the Service of the Church That to maintain this Monarchy and invite Great persons into the Interests of the Church there must be vast Dignities and great Preferments That these must be supported by some things that taking things simply seem corruptions but as men are must be not only born with but encouraged therefore Non-residences Pluralities Dispensations Indulgences Priviledges Exemptions with a Thousand other Abuses in the Datary must still be kept up since they are necessary for bringing in that Revenue which must support the Monarch of the Christian Church and his Princes the Cardinals who if they lived in the simplicity and poverty of the first Ages of Christianity could not attract that Esteem and Reverence from a Carnal World which keeps up their Greatness and Authority It is true Christ and his Apostles took other methods and by their wonderful Holiness and constant Labours planted the Gospel But the Church was then in its Infancy and needed Milk but now that it is grown up to a full Age it requires stronger Food and Motives that prevail more on the Appetites and Interests of frail men It were to be wish'd that good things were well done and that the Church were cleansed from all Abuses but these are the Idea's of Speculative persons who know not men and understand not Business and therefore all Reformations that are not practicable and cannot well consist with mens corrupt Interests are to be rejected and those who promote them are either weak though zealous or factious and discontented persons who design to beat down the Greatness of the Papal Monarchy by withdrawing from it those necessary Supports And may not such a Scheme of Maxims be well called a New Gospel proceeding from New Lights This the Witty and Judicious Author of the following Reflections thought was so great an injury to that Church of which himself was a Member being as I am credibly informed of the Sorbon that he would needs expose it which he thought might be better done by bringing the Cardinal's Maxims under some Heads and laying them together with the Consequences that naturally flow from them than by any laboured or learned Confutation of them And indeed they do at first view discover such an opposition to the Spirit of Christ and the Gospel that no man who has a right taste of the one but must see it in the other The Reader will be easily able to judge whether a Church founded upon and governed by such Maxims be liker to be a Babel raised up and carried on by humane Arts and carnal Policy or a Jerusalem built on the Foundation of Christ and his Apostles And indeed the Cardinal has fully satisfied us That whatever respect the Court of Rome pretends for Tradition and the Doctrine of the Ancients that is only because they think in some points of Controversie to have the better of the Protestants with that Weapon yet in their hearts they despise the Rules Opinions of the Fathers as the fond conceits of Christianity in Childhood far short of their Refinings in Policy and therefore though there are many things practised and encouraged among them which the Ancients not only knew nothing of but hated with a perfect abhorrency yet their Sentiments are not of sufficient Authority to make them throw out any thing that brings them in advantage and any Objection from the Fathers get no better Answer than this That the Church was then but in its Infancy but as she grows older she becomes wiser than Christ or his Apostles were These are excellent Arguments to perswade men to hold the Decisions of that Council or the Practices of the Roman Court in high estimation In all this Palavicini was much to be pitied for both by other parts of that Work and some other of his Treatises it seems he had good Notions both of Virtue and Devotion but it was his Misfortune to undertake a Work which could not be finished without touching it in several places with such a Pencil It is observed of men bred all their Life in Schools or Cells who have never gone without their Precinct nor conversed in the wide World That when they appear in publick they mix their Works or Discourses with many Conceits which they think witty and fine but appear extravagant antick and ridiculous to the World who vouchsafe them no better Name than Pedantry So fares it with one bred at or about Rome all his Life where the Abuses of that Court through a long practice are legitimated and easily coloured over with some slight excuse which passes there because either men dare not speak out what they think or the want of Ecclesiastical Learning and of a deep sense of the Pastoral Charge makes them soon satisfied with any Answer since they understand not the weight and force of the Objections that lie against those Abuses But whatever operation such things may have about Rome when they once pass the Mountains and are seen by men more disinteressed and awake they appear so foolish and childish that no man needs to be at the pains to confute them it is enough to read or hear them The following Discourse was with much care suppressed beyond Sea yet found its way into England and fell into the Hands of one who was so Generous as to oblige the Nation by putting it into their Language His Translation as far as I have compared it is exact and true the only Fault that I found in it is from his great care to be faithful which has made him follow the French phrase too near in some Passages But for a Translater
this is to err on the safer side THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. THe Necessity the Utility and Excellency of Religious Policy It renders men happy in this World and in the other CHAP. II. The Errors and poisoned Maxims of the scrupulous Policy of the zealous Ignorants according to the Flesh CHAP. III. The only Rule of the Politick Church Government is its Felicity according to the Flesh in this World and in the other under the Authority of one sole Monarch of the Universe who is the Pope to whom all Christian Kings are Tributaries and Subjects and who hath or ought to have for his Inheritance or Demean the Riches of all the World whose Honours and carnal Pleasures make the Churches Splendor and Felicity Jesus Christ hath merited them for her by the effusion of his Blood to render her Visible Perpetual and Remarkable as the most happy according to the Flesh of all other Republicks that are that shall be or that ever were upon Earth CHAP. IV. Twenty Reasons that prove the Necessity of the Riches Honours Voluptuousness of the Church to make thereof a Gospel according to the Flesh the Vocation of all the World to Faith and a part of that World to the Ecclesiastick Life without which Riches Honours and Voluptuousness the Church having no Reputation among them who fancy those things would perish not being able to subsist happy according to the Flesh if her Ministers were poor as formerly and if they had not vast Riches as the Glorious Cardinals who are at this day the Pope's Courtiers Here also shall be shewn the unluckiness the shamefulness and even the Vice of Poverty whereof God in his Providence is no Author but Sin or only Fortune which on this score may be accused as the Enemy of Virtue CHAP. V. Here are related the Twelve ordinary means inriching the Court of Rome and maintaining the splendor thereof according to the flesh which is the act of all Religious Policy the most pious and the most important The Twelfth and most efficacious of those means to teach every where the Gospel according to the Flesh and this Religious Policy according to the Doctrine of Aristotle to whom the Church is beholden for many Articles of Faith is to establish Colleges of Jesuites with power to set up the Inquisition and to be high Commissioners in that Holy Office to make out process against all them who shall differ from the sentiments of that Philosopher And that these Jesuites shall have a general grant of all Privileges granted to the other Monastical Orders although St. Bernard hath blamed those privileges for on the other hand they be approved by Nicholas Machiavel CHAP. VI. Here be related the Interests and different Sentiments of the Catholick Christian Crowns and Republicks according as they are more or less favourable to this Religious Policy according to the Flesh and 't is made appear that there 's none more opposite than those of the Crown and of the Church of France which proposed no less at the Council of Trent than to throw down the Churches Monarchy and Empire and to take away the splendor of the Court of Rome THE NEW POLITICK LIGHTS OF Modern Rome 's CHURCH-GOVERNMENT OR The New Gospel according to Cardinal Palavicini Revealed by him in his History of the Council of Trent The Design and Partition of the Work THis Work is divided into six Chapters In the first by the Cardinal 's own Words will appear the Necessity the Utility the Nature and the Excellency of that same Religious Policy which renders men happy in this world and in the other This Policy to be true ought to be according to Aristotle and according to the Flesh which distinguishes it from the false Policy of Mahomet that 's pure Tyranny and from the indiscreet and scrupulous Policy of certain zealous and weak Ignorants who not believing that one may be happy in this world and in the other carry the Virtue Policy into the excess of an ideal and extravagant Reformation as Pope Adrian the 6th would fain have done who in sooth was a most special Priest but a very ordinary Pope Ottimo Ecclesiastico Pontifice mediocre In the Second Chapter are related and refuted five general Maxims of those zealous and scrupulous Ignorants who pretend that Religious Policy ought to found the Rules of its governing upon that which should be according to God and not upon that which may be agreeable to the Flesh in the state of corrupt Nature and who believe that what is best to be done is also best to be commanded following Antiquity Councils and the Vote of a Commonalty of private Bishops which these zealous people regard as little Kings Il volgo de' Rè and as so many small Popes in their Diocesses à guisa di Papi whereas by Rules of the Policy indeed the Pope cannot consider them otherwise than as little Bishops piccioli Vescovi Babies Fanciulli indiscreet Zealots per indiscrezione di zelo Impertinents impertinenti Insolent insolenti Buffoons i Buffoneschi in a word unruly headstrong Coach-horses still ready to run away with the Coach Vna Carozza trata da Cavalli che volino Ignorants who cannot skill the manage of the Roman Court inesperti di maneggio all as these Qualities may belong to them some or others respectively In the Third will be made evident that the only Rule for politickly Governing the Church is its felicity according to the Flesh in this World and in the other under the Authority all-puissant of a King sole Monarch of the whole Universe who is the Pope Signore del Mondo of whom all his Christian Kings are Tributaries and Subjects Molti Regni al loro Monarcao whose Revenue is made up of the riches of the Universe avendo per patrimonio le sustanze de' sudditi whose Honours and Pleasures make the splendor carnal Felicity of the Church That Jesus Christ hath merited this Church by the effusion of his Blood to render it visible perperual and remarkable as the most happy according to the Flesh of all other Republicks that are that shall be or ever have been upon Earth questo governo disegnato da ' Christo più felice che sia in terra In the Fourth will be alledged Twenty Reasons proving the necessity of the Riches Honours and Voluptuousnes of this Church to make thereof a Gospel according to the Flesh and a Vocation of all the World to her Faith and part of that World to the Ecclesiastick State Without which Riches Honours and Voluptuousness the Church having no reputation among them who fancy those things would perish not being able to subsist happy according to the Flesh if her Ministers were poor as formerly and if they had not vast Riches as the glorious Cardinals who at this day are the Pope's Courtiers Gloriosi Cardinali Here also shall be shewn the unluckiness the shamefulness yea and even the Vice of Poverty whereof God in his Providence is no
l. 19. c. 12. the name of Vicar of Jesus Christ hath not continued to them non essersi lasciato il nome di Vicario di Christo à vescovi minori they are nothing but a great multitude of petty Bishops l. 1. c. 21. una moltitudine immensa di piccioli vescovi Now for a small Bishop small Power and small Business Wherefore the Pope hath reserved to himself all the great Affairs of consequence leaving to the Bishops only the small ones as to grant Licenses for ordinary Marriages to issue out some forts of Monitories to visit Nunneries or the like or many times to avoid contest he permits them to act as Delegates of the Holy See For the Pope being distracted with the great affairs of the whole Universe he cannot tend to muse on trifling petty matters l. 5. c. 16. quella giurisdizione à particulari Prelati la qual è profitevole che sia in loro per non costrigner i Christiani d'andare à Roma in ogni mediocre affare e perche alcuni negozii meglio son terminati da chi gli vede con occhio occupato in que pochi soli che da chi gli ode con orecchio distratto ad una immensità d'altre cure The Bishops have not the power to dispense with plurality of Benefices because it was not fit to trust their discretion with so imimportant a part of the Government of their Dioceses as that was l. 23. c. 11 al cui giudicio non era convenevole il permetter And as for the chusing of Parish-Priests the Council hath not given the Bishops liberty to do that for it obliges them to follow the judgment of certain Examiners appointed thereunto l. 23. c 3. sono obligati à seguir le sentence degli esaminatori and the Council enacts That those Examiners be approved by the Clergy of the Diocese at a Synod qui Synodo satisfaciant ab ea approbentur Sess 24. c. 18. Which makes it appear that even those small affairs which the Bishops have left them were by the Councils Order not to be done but in a Synod and with the Synod's advice So that no man which hath not a mind to feed himself with Fancies will ever approve that opinion of an entire Episcopacy being one and the same in all Bishops but will look upon it as a Chimera impossible in practice l. 6. c. 3. ogni huomo capaci d'affari civili auvisera per impossibile in prattica questa per così dire ideal Republica di Platone dove tutta la giurisdizione fosse di ciascun ' presidente Aristotle hath confuted this imaginary Government by Reasons very evident Ibid. e pure una tal Republica con evidentissime raggioni vien rifutata da Aristotele Now that which is contrary to most evident Reasons of Aristotle cannot be conformable to the Institution of Jesus Christ l. 9. c. 9. come si la chiesa di Christo predicasse ch' è contrario à l'insegnamenti d'Aristotele 'T is a very Chimera una chimera impossibile l. 6. c. 3. a false and fraudulent invention Ibid. una invenzione bugiarda a Chaos of confusion l. 1. c. 15. un caos di confusioni a right Babylon con verità Babylonia CHAP. III. The only Rule of the Politick Church Government is its Felicity according to the Flesh in this World and in the other under the Authority of one sole Monarch of the Universe who is the Pope of whom all his Christian Kings are Tributaries and Subjects and who hath or ought to have for his Inheritance or Demean the Riches of all the World whose Honours and carnal Pleasures make the Churches Splendor and Felicity Jesus Christ hath merited them for her by the effusion of his Blood to render her Visible Perpetual and Remarkable as the most happy according to the Flesh of all other Republicks that are that shall be or that ever were upon Earth ARTICLE I. Jesus Christ hath instituted in his Church the most excellent kind of Government Monarchical Government is the most excellent A Man should not doubt that the Wisdom Incarnate did not institute in his Church the most excellent kind of Government l. 8. c. 17. dovremo noi persuadere che la sapienza incarnata istituisse la sua Chiesa con un governo il qual non fosse migliore Now Monarchical Government is the best of all even among Christians essendo l'ottima forma del governo spirituale fra' Christiani l. 1. c. 25. la monarchia l. 5. c. 16. So that it must needs be that the Pope was instituted by Jesus Christ King of the Church and Monarch of the whole World adunque la necessità del governo monarchico si palesò per esperienza l. 8. c. 7. 17. Therefore it is that the Popes do reign at Rome l. 2. c. 9. regnare in Roma and their Kingdom is call'd the Kingdom of the Vatican regno di Vaticano l. 2. c. 7. and the Pope is called God's Viceroy and our Cardinal-Historian calls Pope Alexander VII l. 24. c. ult Vicerè d'istraordinario valore He hath the Seignory of all the world l. 6. c. 4. il dominio de l'intero mondo Christiano He is the Monarch and Lord thereof l. 6. c. 3. Monarca e Segnor del mondo Insomuch that the whole World is the Empire whereof he is the Emperor whose puissance is upheld by the veneration of Emperors and all other Kings who be his Subjects Intr. c. 16. quella venerazione ch' è la base del loro Imperio ARTICLE II. That Emperors and Kings have acknowledged the Pope 'T Is this Soveraign Puissance Ecclesiastick of Popes superior to the Secular that the Kings and Emperors of the Earth have acknowledged by kneeling down before them l. 12. c. 3. l'Ecclesiastica è suprema in authorità perche ad essa i Principi secolari s'ingenocchiano Monarchs do not only kneel before the Pope but they kiss his Feet in token they acknowledge his Soveraign Authority as Vicar of Jesus Christ Ibid. inducendo tutti Principi à riconoscerli come vicarii di Christo basciando i loro piedi They acknowledge him as the chief Magistrate over all men l. 7. c. 14. Magistrato supremo umano They adore him as most holy in that quality and too as Mediator between Heaven and Earth l. 1. c. 15. chi dev'essere adorato con sopranome di santissimo e mezzano frà il cielo e la terra and as Mediator between themselves and Arbitrator of their Differences to hinder the Insolencies of some of them and the plottings of others otherwise States would never endure his medling in their Matters l. 12. c. 3. il principato non è durabile con l'insolenza rimosso l'ostacolo dell'autorita spirituale e perciò molto minor numero di congiure e di ribellioni
spirituale era convenevole qual si fosse temporal pagamento e pero santamente constituirono i Padri Tridentini che i vescovi nulla prendessero 'T is manefest then according to humane equity that the Tax or Impost of Annates or Yearly Pensions is just Ibid. stabilitasi l'equità secundo t'umano discorso Now it is another Principle that when the humane equity of a business is once famed to be settled divine equity as hath been shewen willeth that the Pope should guide the Church according to Natural inclinations So that there can be no divine Reason to forbid what humane equity permits no more than that which is permitted by the Doctrine of Aristotle and forbidden by any other but to comprehend yet more neatly in what that which is called Simony consists it must be known that when the Pope takes Money for granting Spiritual Graces which serve for example unto the Peoples Salvation this is no Simony to give it unto him l. 1. c. 2. the Pope grants it in primo del denaro donato à Dio. But if the Pope gave Money or relinquished his temporal interests to win People to their Salvation this would be Simony in him thus to buy with Money the Poeples Salvation and in the People to consent to their Salvation which is spiritual to get the Popes Money or any other temporal benefit l. 2. c. 10. far una specie di Simonia vendendo al Papa la ricuperazione dell'anime á prezzo d'entrate e di giuridizioni ritolte della chiesa Temporal revenues and other rights annexed to the Authority not only of the Pope but of other Ecclesiasticks are the best Juice and the most pure to nourish up the Church l. 2. c. 10. l. 6. c. 7. miglior sugo This Authority to suck and drain this Juice from all parts of the Univers is of divine Institution Jesus Christ hath instituted this power when he came down upon Earth for the Salvation of the World ufficio istituito da Dio quando scese in terra per la salute del mondo l. 2. c. 10. So that Jesus Christ hath given power to the Pope to take Money and Milk the People for the Salvation of the World but not to the People to suck the Popes Temporalities for their Salvation nor to the Pope to give them his Temporalities for to save them This would be the utmost Simony the first is none Mark ye here how important it is to know well the Rules of right Policy and how far the Pope's power reaches for he can do all except relinquishing the least part of his power for the sake of Peoples Salvation because he is but the Guardian of his all-puissantness l. 12. c. 15. and not the master non essendo egli abitro e padrone della sua maggioranza costituita da Christo pero non potendo farle alcun pregiudicio The second and third means are Pensions and Commendams the Residence of the Commendaries suplied by the good turns of the New Monastical Orders Their end who attact Pensions and Commendams is to suppress all benefices that are exempt from residence and by stronger Reason Pensions l. 17. c. 10. fine sarebbe ill torre affatto ogni Beneficio non allaciato à residenza e molto più le pensioni This would be to ruine in the Church the Universal Court Royal whose Courtiers could no longer hope for great recompences and they would be obliged to confine themselves to scurvy little places and be reduced to the poor functions of the Altar and the Quire In the mean time without Pensions Ibid. senza il sussidio delle Pensioni the Cardinals could not live i Cardinali non pottrebbono vivere l. 23. c. 11. Without Abbeys and Commendams they would not have bread l. 12. c. 13. Senato di Roma privo di quelle badie rimanerebbe privo del vittio So that it is evident that the Institution of Pensions cannot be but good for if this Institution had not been how many Noblemen which do not make themselves Ecclesiasticks for God's sake would there have been retained in the service of the Church l. 23. c. 3. 11. Harrebbe ritenuti molti nobili dalla vita Ecclesiastica 'T is true all these Noble men do not reside and 't is manifest that non-residence is a great evil But since this evil begun let a man consider the swarm of those of the Monastical Orders which God hath sent to labour about the Salvation of Souls and then see if there be any comparison between the good which they do and what one of these non-resident Noblemen would do l. 9. c. 9. if he should keep resident fatto parangone all'opera di ciascun residente la quale per una tal mala esecutione sia si tolta al cultivamento dell'anime Iddio hà restituito centenaia di Regolari che abondano in ogni loco And without doubt we shall see that the Church profits by Pensions in every respect both according to the flesh and according to the Spirit The fourth and fifth means Plurality of Benefices and the absolute disposal of those Benefices The disposal of a many Benefices all Christendome over being a great means for the Pope to do good is one of the things whereupon the Apostolical principality moves Intr. c. 6. la disposizione di molti Beneficii in varie parti del Christianesimo e pur la facoltà di benefacere è un de' due Cardini sopra cui sostiensi la venerazione ch'è la base del loro imperio This power of conferring Benefices being formerly more extended over more Nations then it is drew then to the Court of the King of Kings a world of strangers which posted thither from all Quarters to be known and to get Benefices l. 23. c. 3. quella frequenza che le portava il concorso di tanti stranieri Ecclesiastici i quali dovessero farsi quivi conocere per ottenere i Beneficii The Zealous will say that a man is unworthy that thus crouds in for himself but these be Ideas which were good in the time of the Churches Infancy Intr. c. 6. nell'infanzia della Chiesa They will say that these be worldly and humane considerations for Popes to act by il risguardo eziando dell'interesse umano But is not the humane felicity of the Court of Rome of divine Institution and will not God have his Church governed according to humane inclinations This is all can be said for Plurality of Benefices for to look only upon the divine institution and setting aside humane interest this is a business able to confound Ecclesiastick Order to give to one alone the duties and functions which cannot be discharged but by diverse Ecclesiasticus ordo pervertitur Sess 24. c. 17. Sess 14. c. 9. Conc. Trid. Which made the Council condemn this plurality herein the Fathers of the Council are not quite
there were no other reason for exemption of Chapters but to show the Popes Royal Sovereignty which is the foundation of the Church for it appears that it is a most puissant means to establish the Popes power and the gallantry and riches of the Roman Court. The eleventh Means Privileging the Monastical Orders One of the Principal advantages which comes to the Church by the exemption of the Regulars is maintaining the authority of the Apostolick See according to the institution of Jesus Christ and the general good of the Church l. 12. c. 13. jo non nego che un de profitti che arreca l'Ezenzione de Regolari degli Ordinarii sia il mantener l'autorità della sede Apostolica secundo l'istituzione di Christo e'l ben della chiesa Because we see that all Monarchical Government for the keeping up it self without suffering diminution had need to have in every Province some powerful Body of Subjects independant from those who be the ordinary and perpetual Superiours or Magistrates there ibid. veggendo noi che ogni governo Monarchico per conservarsi illeso hà bisogno d'haver in qualunque provincia qualche nervo prevalente de sudditi independenti da chi è quivi superiore immediato e perpetuo Yet as mens opinions be divers these priviledges to the Monastical Orders which make the force of the Church and the principal sinew of the Pope's Power did not quite please St. Bernard questa raggione però come son ' varie le opinioni degli huomini non l. 8. c. 17. sodisfece pienamente à San ' Bernardo because he feared that the desire of exemption came from some hidden sentiment of Pride l. 8. c. 17. il quale dubito che il desideriò d'esenzione dal proprio Vescovo potesse nascere da occulto Spirito superbia But on the other side Nicholas Machiavel remains agreed of the profitableness of these Exemptions and that t' was in them that the Prophecy was fulfilled which said that the Monks should uphold the Church of St. John of Lateran ready to fall that is to say the whole Church non in altro modo i predetti ordini sarebbou valuti à sostenar la crollante basilica di Laterano cioè la Chiesa Catolica profezia auvera ta per confessione dello stesso Nicolo Machiavelli Here 's then the advantage of the Politick conduct of every well-govern'd Monarchy to have certain persons in places distant from the Sovereign which have power without limits as for example the Romans gave it to their Generals ibid. percio che ad impresse grandi e in regioni lontane dal supremo richiedesi autorità illimitata ed independente quale usarone di dare i Romani à lor condottori All the religious Orders are every man as it were so many Generals of the Popes Army throughout the Earth and as so many Roman Chieftains who living above an humane life would not uphold such a Monarchy as the Pope's if it were tyrannical which makes it appear that this same Monarchical all-puissantness of the Pope is of Jesus Christ's institution But that wherein the religious Orders serves yet further to advance the splendour of the Court of Rome is that making profession of single Life they quit their paternal Estates to their brethren and Kinsfolk una utilità delle grandi che riceve la Republica per la felicità civile dell'istituti Religiosi l. 4. c. 6. their kindred becoming rich by that means they become the Pillars of the Temple and the Columns of the Church l. 9. c. 9. l. 17. c. 9. che per altezza de sangue sono i Pilastri del tempio Il chiericato mantien la richezza e'l decoro delle stirpi e per conseguente la nobilità è gli spiriti d'onore One's piety makes t'other get a great Estate hence comes forth Abbeys which are afterwards put in Commendams and they become great Benefices whose revenues stream forth even to Rome to be digested in the stomach of St. Peter And thus it is that all the members of the Church serve to enrich the Court of Rome and to uphold its bravery thus it is that that Court is the Churches soul and its moving intelligence The twelfth Means The establishment of Colleges of Jesuits and of the Holy Inquisition It hath been seen that Policy is the prime and most excellent vertue of all the moral vertues because her Object is the happiness of the Common-wealth not onely according to the spirit but according to the flesh secondo la carne Now the corruption of the greatest Good produces the greatest Evil il pessimo esser suol una corruzione de l'ot timo l. 17. c. 2. l. 1. 13. It follows then that the greatest of all the Churches Evils is Ignorance of Policy It hath been seen that private Bishops doe not skill this excellent virtue because the excellent school where this Science is learned is the Roman Court where a man is refined in this virtue That 's the shop or workhouse where all the sleights of Policy are learnt and where cunning prudence may be gotten and subtlety of Wit sottile ingegno fina prudenza l 13. c. 10. The privy Counsellours of temporal Princes Courts are enough refined in temporal affaires but commonly they do not know what Religion is nor what is the onely Base which upholds it it and renders it immovable l. 16. c. 10. huomini di stato i quali spesso non ben intendono che cosa sia la Religione e qual sia l'unica Base che possa mantenerla non vacillante that is to say to speak fine and plain They do not know the mystery nor the Extent of the Pope's onely universal Monarchy whereof all Kings are subjects and all Catholick Kingdoms the demean lands with an all-puissantness to dispose of all things etiam sine causa as it hath been explained It was upon the principles of this Ignorance that the instructions of Monsr de Lansac the French Ambassadour at the Council of Trent were framed these instructions were composed of four and thirty Articles all opposite to that which makes for the Popes Royalty in the Church and his absolute Empire over the whole Universe and which in conclusion tended to throw down the Roman Court both splendour and Empire thereof l. 16. c. 10. tutte contrarie al Pontefice ò puì tosto al Pontificato e contenute nella sua istruzione i quali tutti si riducevano à levar lo splendore e l'imperio della Corte Romana What specifick remedy for such a disease doubtless there could not be a better then for all Bishops yea even for Parish Priests to be educated and refined in the excellent school of the Court of Rome But that is not done in default thereof it could be wished that at least all the Heads of Houses in Universities had studyed there but that 's against their