proportionably augmented whilest there were not a few that were glad to be fed by a fat Kitchin and make good cheer without taking any care for the provision thereof and it was not enough that each Church had its ordain'd Priests Chaplains and other necessary Servants but the most considerable must have an addition of Canons and Prebends which places consisting of so great profit and so little pains were soon fill'd by men of all sorts and sizes and thus the inconveniences of a single life which the Popes not without a great deal of pains and opposition had introduc'd in the eleventh and following Centuries were sweetned by the Honours and large Revenues of these Charges which they so quietly enjoy'd Besides all Christendom swarm'd with a prodigious number of Monks and Nuns which springing up in the times of Persecution in the fourth and fifth Centuries have afterwards strangely increas'd These sort of people at the first were content to get their living by their own Industry many of 'em gave all their goods to the poor without being in the least oblig'd thereto and liv'd under the care and inspection of the Bishops according to the Discipline that was prescrib'd them in the Canons In the seventh Century through all the Western Empire was the Monastical way of living extreamly in fashion and all places were fill'd with Cloysters in the founding of which the Princes and Great Men did seem to vie with each other but after that their Liberality was as it were quite exhausted by the Endowments and Gifts made to so many old Monasteries and that there was not place enough for such as desir'd to be receiv'd into those Orders There was at length in the thirteenth Century form'd an Order of Mendicants or Begging Monks which made a greater show of Holiness forasmuch as they would not be thought to go into a Cloyster in hopes of a plentiful and lazy Life but renouncing all the pleasures of the World they would live by Alms and the Beggars-Basket The Fancy of a singular Merit and Supererrogative Holiness induced the People to this Austerity and Hardship of living or rather an unbounded Ambition and Pride so natural to all mankind that not contented to live up to the Commandments of God and barely to fulfil what he prescribes they had rather deserve Heav'n than accept it as a pure Gift of their Creator or purchas'd for them by the Merits of their Redeemer and the desire they have of Superiority and Preference above the rest does even extend it self to the other life To the embracing of this single and solitary Life some are carried by despair others out of a prospect of ease and laziness others are thrust into Cloysters by their Parents and Relations either out of a motive of Religion or Poverty or else for fear of ruining their Family by the division of their Goods amongst a great many Children From these Monks has the Pope form'd his Pretorian Band or Regiment of Guards whom he has not alone quarter'd as troublesome Companions upon the Laity but does make use of 'em also as spies over the actions of the Bishops and rest of the Clergy Therefore it is that the Popes have with so much zeal maintain'd the privileges of the Monks especially when in the thirteenth Century they would have forc'd themselves from the Bishops Jurisdiction and subjected themselves immediately to the Pope and the Pope has found out the way to carry himself so evenly with them that altho' there are great Jealousies betwixt their Orders as for example betwixt the Franciscans and Dominicans yet he holds the Balance always so even and dispenses his Favours so impartially that one Order cannot be oppress'd by the other nor has reason to complain of the Pope's injustice These Monks are very prejudicial to the ordinary Priests insomuch as they attract to themselves the greatest part of the Alms Legacies and Gains proceeding from the Burials of the Rich besides the Direction of Consciences and Administration of the Sacraments which has drawn upon them the immortal hatred of the Bishops and Secular Priests which those other don't much value whilest they are under the care and protection of the Pope and besides when a Bishop at any time oppos'd the Pope the Monks like so many Blood Hounds were immediately after his heels and by their bawlings and exclamations soon made him lose his Credit with the People by whom their Hypocrisy and pretended Sanctity made them much respected so that the Bishops were forced to truckle to the Pope's Authority because the People would afford them no Support or Assistance thus the Monks were set as so many spies over the Conduct of the Bishops which when they found blamable they did not fail immediately to signify to the Generals that resided always at Rome so that the Pope might make a timely opposition against their practices In short these Monks were not the least cause of the Bishops not resisting the growing Power of the Pope for finding it always in vain they were forced with the rest to yield to the mighty Torrent Tho' there were a great many of 'em likewise that were well enough contented to submit to this slavery in hopes of sharing the Prey with their Chief and because they were thereby freed from the Jurisdiction of their Temporal Princes whose power they more dreaded than that of a distant Tribunal the Judges whereof being of the same Trade as they were not so terrible to them for one Crow will not pick out its fellow's Eyes In the mean while 't is most certain that a great many Bishops especially of this side the Alps do with a great deal of impatience groan under the yoke of Rome which did appear sufficiently in the Council of Trent where the French and Spanish Bishops did with great earnestness endeavour that it might be declar'd quod Residentia Episcoporum sit Juris Divini or that by the Divine Appointment each Bishop is oblig'd to reside in his own Church as all the Jansenists of France and the Low-Countries do maintain Now the wisest could easily penetrate what lay hid under this specious Doctrine for if God has commanded that it must necessarily follow that he would afford the way and means of putting it in practice qui dat jus ad finem dat jus ad media and then by consequence it is no longer needful to run to Rome and buy the permission of exercising their charge And it cost the Pope a great deal of pains and a great deal of fears before he could oblige the Council of Trent to desist from a design which extreamly shook his usurp'd Authority and therefore we may be assur'd that that shall be the last General Council nor will the Pope ever more venture his Authority in such like Assemblies which besides will be but very useless things as long as the Jesuits and others teach That the Pope is above the Councils and That he cannot err and That the Councils themselves
Support and such a Schism was a very evident Mark that it was not the Holy Ghost but devilish Intrigues that presided in those Elections and therefore the most prudent of the Clergy were of opinion that neither of 'em ought to be admitted to the Papal Authority but that they should proceed to a new Election which afterwards was practis'd by the Council of Constance The first Schism as I take it happened in the year 1134 or as others reckon 1130. when after the Death of Henry the fifth two Popes Innocent the second and Anacletus were chosen both together and tho' the first had gain'd the most partizans yet the latter was vigorously maintain'd against him by the King of Sicily and the Duke of Aquitain But he dying his Friends chose a third in his place nam'd Victor whom Innocent brought to an Accommodation so that he at last ceas'd from his pretensions and freely submitted himself to Innocent But after the Death of Adrian the fourth there were again two Popes elected Alexander the third and Victor the fourth with the first held England France and Sicily with the latter Frederick the first all Germany and most of the Clergy of Rome and after his Death his followers chose three others successively in his place who were all out-liv'd by Alexander now all these curs'd and excommunicated one another after the most infamous manner in the World and each of 'em were forc'd to shew more Obedience than Authority to their Protectors But the greatest and most scandalous Schism was that which arose after the death of Gregory the eleventh when in like manner two Popes were chosen one of which kept his Residence at Rome and the other at Avignon and this lasted amongst their Successors at least Forty years whilest both Parties vomited out all the injuries imaginable against one another The Pope of Avignon was maintain'd by France Scotland Castile Savoy and Naples but the rest of the Christian States held with the Pope of Rome both of 'em bragg'd of the Great and Holy Persons they had of their side as likewise the Revelations and Miracles which Heaven in their Favour had produced and so many reasons were brought in the Favour of each of 'em that there was no other way to be found than to Cite them both before the Council of Constance where they were forc'd to Renounce their Popedoms and a new Pope was elected The last Schism happen'd in the Year 1433 when the Council of Basil depos'd Eugenius the fourth and chose in his place Pope Foelix the fifth But the first refus'd to submit to their Authority and the Dissention lasted till after the death of Eugenius when Nicholas the fifth being chosen Foelix desirous of Peace yielded all his pretensions to him on very good Conditions about the Year 1438. Now 't is easy to imagine how much these Schisms and Quarrels expos'd the Pudenda Paparum whilest the Councils were oblig'd on these occasions to interpose their Authority and Bridle the Irregularities of the Pope to which people began to appeal from the Pope as to the Higher Powers so that when the Popes began at any time to be unruly there was no such Bug-bears as to threaten them with a Council 'T is plain that the Popes could not lord it over the Councils since Gregory the seventh himself when he had renew'd the old quarrel betwixt him and the Emperor Henry the fourth declar'd that he would call a Council in a place of Security where both the Friends and Enemies Ecclesiastick as well as Secular might come without any danger and judge whether he or the Emperor had violated the Peace and to propose means for the re-establishing of it The same Protestation was made by Pope Gelasius the second in his quarrel with Henry the fifth to which he added that he was contented to stand to the Decision of his Brethren the Bishops whom God himself had made his Judges in the Church and without whom he durst not take in hand an affair of so Great Importance Innocent the third declar'd also that he durst not undertake to judge of the Marriage betwixt Philip August and Ingeburg of Denmark without asking the Opinion of a General Council and if he should presume to do it he should be in danger of losing his Charge and Dignity whereby he seem'd to own that a Pope by the abuse of his Office might Lawfully be depriv'd of the same But when the Princes in following times insisted upon those Confessions of the Popes all the answer and satisfaction they could have was that truly their Predecessors had us'd such sort of Expressions but they were onely Complements and bare Ceremonious words and that the Modesty which they had shown in that matter ought not to be prejudicial to them Thus in the Year 1409. The Council of Pisa depos'd the two Antipopes Benedict the twelfth and Gregory the twelfth and in their place chose Alexander the fifth but the Council of Constance did not only confirm the Election of the said two Popes but also depos'd John the twenty fourth who succeded Alexander the fifth The Council of Basil proceeded in like manner against Eugenius the fourth and made a Decree beside That neither at Rome nor in any other place should there be any Expedition-Money given for Ecclesiastical Matters All which Proceedings struck at the very Foundations of Papal Government and therefore 't is no wonder that the Popes were afterwards so shy in calling the Council of Trent and that they then us'd so many Artifices to impede its decreeing any thing prejudicial to their Authority and that since that time they have bidden an Eternal adieu to all Councils Sect. 24. Amongst all these Schisms the Translation of the Papal Chair from Rome to Avignon did not a little weaken their Authority the First that began it if I am not deceiv'd was Clement the fifth at the perswasion of Philip the Fair King of France who had quarrell'd with Boniface the eighth and was Excommunicated by him the effects of which he design'd to prevent if he could but once oblige the Popes to reside in France especially whilest thereby most of the Cardinals should be chosen out of the French Nation and indeed the Pope did reside in that City more than seventy year without reckoning the time of the Anti-popes which became very prejudicial to the Papal Soveraignty for till then amongst other pretences on which the Popedom was founded one of the Chiefest was That St. Peter having been Bishop of Rome by his personal Residence there had communicated a particular Advantage and Holiness to that City which whether the Popes could transport to Avignon was very much doubted of so that from thence the Pope found himself very often oblig'd to dance after the French-man 's Pipes and to be wholly at his Devotion tho' the French who did then much brag of the prize they had got do now complain that by the Residence of the Court of Rome in
THE HISTORY OF Popedom Containing the RISE PROGRESS AND DECAY Thereof c. Written in High Dutch BY SAMUEL PUFFENDORFF Translated into English by J. C. LONDON Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh at the Golden Ball over against the Royal Exchange 1691. Imprimatur C. Alston October 2 d. 1690. To the Right Reverend Father in God HENRY Lord Bishop of LONDON Dean of the Chappel Royal and one of the Lords of His Majesties most Honorable Privy Council This TREATISE is most humbly Dedicated By John Chamberlayne CONTENTS Paragraph 1. POlitic Reflections on the Spiritual Monarchy of the Pope Par. 2. Of the Blindness of the Heathens in Matters of Divinity what they proposed to themselves by choosing the Paths of Virtue wherein their Religion consisted Par. 3. Of the Jewish Religion why other Nations did not embrace the Religion of the Jews Par. 4. That the Christian Religion is adapted to the humours of all People that it admits no Respect of Persons that it is not contrary to Civil Government that there is no other sort of Religion or Philosophy that can equal it why many of our Christians live like Heathens Par. 5. Of the External Government of Religion what is here to be understood by the External Government of the Christian Religion of the Ministry of the Church of the calling of the Apostles Par. 6. The Division of this Question that this necessity does not proceed from the nature of every Religion in general how the External Government of Religion was transmitted from the Fathers of the Family to the Sovereigns of each State Par. 7. That it is not inconsistent with the Christian Religion for the Sovereign to have the direction of it as to its External Government Par. 8. The First Progress of the Christian Religion the Divine Conduct in the Establishment of this Religion how the Jesuits Preach the Gospel to the Chineses why God called the Ignorant rather than the Wise and Learned Men. Par. 9. The Persecution of the Primitive Church the New Christians Slandered and Calumniated the Romans upon Reasons of State oppose their Religion the Roman Persecution condemn'd Par. 10. Of the Ancient Government of the Christian Religion Differences arising about Religion Terminated by Assemblies why the Authority of these Assemblies ought to be permitted under Heathen Emperours Par. 11. That the External Government of the Church by being lodged in the hands of the Primitive Christians has produced strange disorders that from hence some have supposed two Powers in the State that Ecclesiastics ought to receive their Call from the Sovereign of each State Par. 12. That it was not in Constantin's Power wholly to change the State of the Church how the Bishops and other the Ecclesiastics came to Vsurp the Sovereign Power that the Sovereign may preside in the Assemblies where Controversies are treated of the abuse of Councils Par. 13. The Jurisdiction of Bishops abused other Abuses concerning Marriages Ecclesiastical Discipline abused the Popes misuse the Power of Excommunication Par. 14. The Rise of the Popes Authority that Ignorance and the Barbarity of the Age contributed much thereto the causes of this Ignorance that ignorance help'd much to the Establishing of the Popedom the Introduction of Pedantry into the Schools that the Politiques of the Greeks and Romans were contrary to Monarchy two dangerous effects of the ignorance of Politiques Par. 15. Why the Monarch of the Romish Church has chosen Rome for the place of his Residence how the Pope Establish'd his Hierarchy of the Metropolitan Bishops how the Bishops of RomeVsurp'd the Preheminence Reflections on the Popes Power Par. 16. How the Pope came to Domineer o'er all the Western Part of the World of the Confirmation of Bishops by the Pope Decisions of the Pope Dispensations of the Popes Vicar in France of the Monk Winifred the Pope makes him his Vicar he advances the Grandeur of the Popes of the Annates the Popes annul the Decisions of Provincial Synods they force the Bishops to swear Fidelity to them Par. 17. The Riches of the Church and how first gotten the Avarice of the Church-men and divers effects thereof the Institution of the Crusado a stratagem of Popes Par. 18. Of the great number of Ecclesiastics the Original of Monks and other Religious Orders of the Multitude of Monasteries of the Order of Begging Friars why they chose that sort of Life the Reasons that induce men now adays to choose a Monastic Life that Monks have been very prejudicial to other Church-men that they alone hinder the Bishops from opposing the Pope 's Authority that a great many Bishops would be glad to shake off the Yoke of Rome that it is the Interest of Bishops to submit to the Pope Par. 19. How the Church has shaken off all Temporal Jurisdiction how the Bishops of Rome slipt their Neck out of the Emperours Collar Par. 20. The Pope implores the French Kings Protection against the Lumbards the French enter Italy they bestow the Exarchat on the Pope that the Popes did heretofore hold those Countries under them of the Emperour Par. 21. The Popes Establish an Ecclesiastical Sovereignty Pope Gregory Excommunicates the Emperour Henry the Fourth the Pope endeavours to Domineer o'er the Emperour a quarrel between the King of England and his Bishops that succeeding Emperours have in vain endeavoured to regain their lost Authority Par 22. The Pope exalts himself above all Temporal Powers the use he made of his Excommunicating Power how the Pope colour'd his usurpations the Pope takes upon him the cognisance of Matrimonial Affairs that the Pope allur'd the most knowing Men into his service the unbounded Ambition of Pope Boniface the Eighth Par. 23. The Popes find their Authority oppos'd that the great Schisms in the Church have much weakened their Authority the first Schism the second Schism the third Schism the fourth and last Schism that the Pope has not been able to Lord it over Councils the Confession of several Popes concerning the Authority of Councils that Popes have been Depos'd by Councils Par. 24. The removal of the Popes Seat from Rome to Avignon that it was prejudicial to the Pope 's Authority the Pope reduces to his Obedience the City of Rome the History of Caesar Borgia natural Son of Alexander the Sixth the Ecclesiastical State reunited to the Popedom Par. 25. That the Papal Authority receiv'd a terrible blow by the Doctrine of Luther the Virtues and Vices of Leon the Tenth of Indulgences Luther Preaches against them and against the Power of the Pope Par. 26. That Luther's opposition met with a seasonable juncture of the times the miserable State of Christendom at that time the ignorance of Luther's adversaries Erasmus favours Luther that his silence alone was very prejudicial to Luther's adversaries that the Princes of Germany were unsatisfied with the Pope why Charles the Fifth was willing that Luther's Doctrine should make some progress the Popes ill conduct in the Business of Luther the imprudence of Cardinal Cajetan
the pretext of establishing the Affairs of the Church and setting them in good order to which end the Bishops began to Lord it over the ordinary Priests and to observe even a kind of Subordination amongst themselves and to such as were Bishops of the Capital Cities in each Province they appointed the Care and Inspection over the rest of the same Province and nam'd them Metropolitans who about Eight Ages afterward took upon themselves the Name and Title of Arch-Bishops amongst these there were four that had the preheminence above all the rest namely the Bishop of Rome Constantinople Antioch and Alexandria those being the most considerable Cities of the Roman Empire to which we may add Jerusalem Famous for its ancient Holiness And altho' the Emperor Phocas out of the hatred he bore to the Bishop of Constantinople who had refus'd to approve of the Murder of the Emperor Maurice had given the preheminence to Boniface the Third Bishop of Rome who thereupon took the Name of Oecumenical or Universal Bishop yet this Prerogative did only consist in a simple preference and did not carry along with it any Power or Jurisdiction which none of the other Patriarchs would ever yield to him And we read that the Bishops in Africa when he of Rome would have oblig'd them to truckle to his Power alledging to that intent a falsifi'd Canon of the Nicene Council did very vigorously resist and baffle that his design Besides in the whole frame of the Papal Supremacy we find nothing Divine but all built upon Humane Institutions and there is no more reason to be given why the Bishop of Rome has the first place than he of Antioch the third And forasmuch as one State has no power to prescribe Laws to another wholly independent of it therefore those privileges which have been granted to the Popes by the Roman Emperors and the ancient Councils which were nothing else but a Congregation of the Clergy of the Roman Empire cannot oblige any other State to obedience nor extend themselves farther than the bounds of the ancient Empire And if perhaps in succeeding times some few Christian States have given the Pope any Authority in Ecclesiastical Matters within their Dominions they did it without doubt either because they knew upon what grounds that pretended Power was founded or else they were surpriz'd and cheated into obedience If it be the first there is no other probable reason to be given for it than that it originally proceeding from some Covenant or Agreement made betwixt those States and the Bishops of Rome whilest the former imagin'd that their Churches could not be well govern'd till they abandoned the Care and Direction of 'em to the latter Now such an Agreement primarily depending on the free will and consent of any Republick according to the nature of all other obligations is ipso facto void and of no effect when it turns to the extream disadvantage of the Republick or when the Popes abuse that Power which is granted to them But if this Papal Supremacy be introduc'd dolo malo by the tricks and cheats of the knavish Priests then the abus'd and miss-led States as soon as they can discover how they have been impos'd on may lawfully cast off so unjust a yoke and have right to pursue the cheater and oblige him to refund all the Damages they have sustain'd by his usurpations Sect. 16. But it was not all at once that the Bishop of Rome was able to lay so heavy a yoke on all the Western Churches on the contrary he found himself oblig'd to insinuate this his usurp'd Authority by little and little and steal it insensibly by divers Slights and Artifices and where once he happen'd to fasten his Claws 't was impossible to make him lose his hold till he had carried away a good share of the prey Besides the Bishops of Rome never were wanting to serve themselves very advantageously of a good occasion of which the most advantageous to 'em in my opinion was the Emperours leaving Rome and chusing other Cities for their Residence whereas if they had always continued to have maintain'd their Authority in that place the Bishops thereof would have never had the confidence to have erected themselves into Soveraigns as we see that the Bishop of Constantinople who perhaps had no less vanity and itching after Gevernment than he of Rome was never able to raise his Authority to so high a flight The division of the Roman Empire into several new Kingdoms founded by the Heathen and unlearn'd People did no less contribute to the aggrandizing the Bishop of Rome for these People being all converted by the Prelates of the Romish Church thought themselves therefore very much oblig'd to honour and respect them and paid a deference to them as the most ancient and most considerable Christians of the West It is not our design here to deduce all circumstances at length 't is enough that we represent the most remarkable in haste as it were and en-passant but one thing we can't let slip unobserv'd that the Bishops beyond the Alps after the Fifth Century were us'd to go in Pilgrimage to Rome to visit there the Graves of St. Peter and St. Paul either out of Superstition and Biggottry or else in sign of their approving and following those Apostles Doctrine which voluntary piece of Devotion was afterwards chang'd into an act of necessity so that as many as afterwards neglected that Voyage were excommunicated from which Custom without doubt the Popes have pretended to oblige all Bishops to receive their Confirmation from Rome The other Bishops too and Churches had often recourse to that of Rome as Novices to their Superiours in all weighty Affairs consulting their advice in the use and explication of the Canons now when the Bishops of Rome perceiv'd that their answers were receiv'd as absolute Decisions they began to make Decrees and Orders before e'er they were desir'd to do it under the pretence that Rome being the first and chiefest Seat of Christendom it was the Right and Office of the Bishop thereof to see that the Canons and Ecclesiastical Laws were put in execution thereupon they constituted immediate Judges of the Differences amongst the other Bishops encroached upon the Jurisdiction of the Metropolitans depos'd the Bishops which were either not rightly Ordain'd or that were accused of any great Crime and forced them to come to Rome to plead their cause in person after which all such as desir'd to enjoy any prerogative or exemption from the ordinary Canons went to Rome where they were always well receiv'd and gratifi'd in their request that so the Popes might there erect a general Office of all sort of Dispensations Those also that had lost their Cause before the ordinary Magistrates were wont out of spite to appeal to Rome where they were always welcome and seldom fail'd of a good exit Thus the French Historians tell us that when the Emperor Honorius had erected the City of
down-right terms that the Princes did depend on his Holiness in meer Worldly Affairs yet he thought that that absolute power which he had acquir'd in Ecclesiastical Matters did sufficiently Authorize him to judge of their Actions whether they were good or bad to advise and correct them and in fine to forbid what he thought unfit and to command what he approv'd of Thus when at any time the Princes were in War with one another the Pope made use of his Authority to command a Cessation of Arms and that they should bring their Quarrel before him and expect his decision thereof threatning the obstinate not only to Excommunicate their persons but likewise to Suspend through their whole Kingdom the exercise of Divine Worship and use of the Holy Sacraments whilest he imagin'd that it belong'd to him only to remove all occasions of Scandal in Christendom to succour the oppressed and in short to administer Judgment and Justice to the whole World therefore he willingly hearkned to and took upon him to redress the injuries of all such as made their complaints to him nay he proceeded farther taking cognizance of those injustices which Princes did to their own Subjects as also of the new impositions that were laid on them and forbad sometimes their proceeding any farther under pain of Excommunication Sometimes the Pope declar'd confiscated the Goods of such as he had excommunicated and lawful prize for the next that should lay hands on them exposing thereby their lives to very eminent Dangers and dispensing their Subjects from all Oaths of Allegiance under the pretence that it was not fit to leave the Government of Christian People to Princes that should rebel against the Church and such Hellish Maxims several Popes have dar'd to maintain and put in execution against Crowned Heads and to render more plausible these their execrable Designs amongst the ignorant people they serv'd themselves of a forg'd Decretal whereon they began to found a new Jus Canonicum which ascrib'd to the Pope an unlimitted Power over all Christians and impower'd him as common Father to command or forbid the Faithful the exercise of whatsoever had any relation to their Salvation and good of the Religion and to punish such as refus'd to obey And the reason why the Predecessors of Gregory the seventh did not exercise such a power over the Emperors was say they either because the Emperors liv'd so well that there was no need of it or that the Popes lead so bad a life that they ought rather to be corrected by others than think of correcting others And to give the more Authority to the Pope's pretensions the did not fail to quote what St. Ambrose had done against the Emperor Theodosius and that the Bishops of Spain had oblig'd their King Wamba to submit to so extraordinary a Pennance as the renouncing of his Kingdom as also That the French Bishops had depos'd Lewis surnam'd the Godly who afterwards durst not re-assume the Crown without the Consent of another Assembly of the Bishops That Fulk Arch-Bishop of Rhemes had threatned Charles the Simple to Dispence his Subjects of that obedience they ow'd unto him in case he proceeded to make any Alliance with the Normans who at that time were Heathens Now no body could doubt but that the Pope's Authority extends it self farther than all the Bishops since it had no other bounds than what the Canons of the Councils and Decrees of the Popes themselves prescribed it which had never forbid them to depose Kings but their Predecessors could not prevent that which they could not fore-see nor did they ever dream that they should arrive to such a height of impudence And since the Popes had taken upon 'em to bestow the Royal Title and that there were found Princes who either out of a motive of Ambition or Superstition did seek their Confirmation from Rome they imagin'd they had no less a right to deprive those of their Crowns whom they esteem'd unworthy to bear them They could not a little incommode the Princes likewise by their forbidding all Marriages within the seventh Degree of Consanguinity and the fourth of Affinity for whilest among great People there can seldom any Match be propos'd where one of those Degrees will not occur they were in continual fear of the Pope's troubling their Negotiation if they did not humbly crouch to him and implore his Dispensation so that let it happen how it would they found themselves oblig'd to dance after his Pipe Lastly The Popes by the great number of Affairs to be dispatch'd in their Courts allur'd the greatest and most learned Men of Europe to them who came with a design either of procuring themselves some employ or else to accomplish themselves in this great School to be able to serve their Countries at home Now as most of these expected their Fortune from the Pope they devoted themselves entirely to his will as well as all the Clergy who unanimously own'd him their Head and General And this Pope Boniface the eighth did very evidently demonstrate by the Jubilee which he publish'd in the year 1300. where he appear'd first in the Habit of an Emperor then in his Pontificial Robes ordering two Swords to be carried before him as Marks of his Authority in all Civil as well as Ecclesiastical Affairs Sect. 23. In the mean while the Popes could not long enjoy this usurped and intolerable power without a great deal of opposition so that they were forced more than once to change their Notes and to manage their pretensions more slyly and cautiously 'T is true in the Quarrels which they had with the Emperors Henry and Frederick they often got the better yet sometimes they met with cruel rubs and were forced to hear things which were not much to their credit and from which the impartial may judge That it was not the Glory of God but Worldly Honor and Advantage that were the ends of all their Designs But when Boniface the eighth would have play'd some of his tricks with Philip the Fair of France he oppos'd himself so seasonably against the Popes encroachments and defended his rights so courageously that that dispute turn'd wholly to the shame and confusion of the Pope And Philip that he might not give any occasion of scandal by his prosecuting and revenging himself on Boniface gave out that he did not attack him as the Vicar of Jesus Christ but as a wicked Prelate who by unlawful ways had usurp'd the Papal Chair and therefore desired the calling together of a General Council to deliver the Church of so unjust an oppressor But the Schisms which afterwards follow'd made a much greater breach in the Popes Authority when by the division of the Cardinals two Popes were at the same time elected who excommunicated and anathematized one another and the better to maintain themselves in the Papal Chair they were forced to flatter and caress the Kings and tacitly own thereby that they could not subsist without their
and pleasure The Pope has nothing to fear from the other States of Italy for though they cherish a secret hatred against him whilst a spiritual power is become very formidable to them and some of them have been shrewdly handled by him yet they are forced to respect him outwardly and dare not undertake any thing against him openly But on the contrary they will never suffer him to aggrandize himself by the Ruines of any one of them whilst that crafty Nation is very jealous of keeping the balance equal amongst them Sect. 30. But if we consider the Pope the second way that is as the spiritual Monarch of Christendom and Vicar of Jesus Christ upon Earth we shall find the whole basis of that Government so artificially and ingeniously contriv'd that a man may well say there was never a more subtile Machine invented whilst the World stood than is the POPEDOM the which to support and maintain does require so much the more Cunning and Intrigues as its Interests are different from those of all the World beside and the Title to such a pretended Soveraignty more weak and impertinent The Prospect of other States is to secure to themselves an external as well as internal Peace and Tranquility 'T is to this end that each Member of the Common-wealth does contribute as much as in him lies not sparing Limb nor Life to put themselves into a condition of resisting the Injuries and Violences of Strangers as also each particular ought to procure to himself a competent Subsistence by his proper Labour and Industry But the aims and designs of the Papal Government is that the Pope and his Clergy endeavour to make themselves rich powerful and considered in the World and to provide for their own ease and security by the Sweats of other mens Brows which they effect by all sort of allurements and plausible perswasions And whereas other States are at excessive charges in the maintaining of standing Armies and a number of Garrisons the Pope on the contrary makes his Militia subsist how great soever it be at the Expences of others and yet does serve himself thereof much more advantageously than all others Besides other Princes find it to be their Interest not to neglect the Maxim de imperio intra terminos coercendo or of not extending too far the limits of their Territories But the Pope has no reason to observe the same measures for 't would be neither dangerous nor troublesome to him though his Empire should reach both to the East and West-Indies The Right of Soveraignty is grounded upon clear and uncontroulable Reason and on the Institution of God himself so that without it it were impossible for men to lead an honourable safe and orderly Life but I am sure 't is impossible to find so plain and well-grounded a Title of the Papal Power or to prove That a Spiritual Soveraignty is as necessary to the Welfare of Christendom as Temporal Powers are to the Peace and Tranquility of Mankind And he that will not believe this Position let him only bring one solid Argument to the contrary and we will yield with admiration to the Subtleness of his Wit But if the Popish Doctors will appeal to an express and positive order of God they are oblig'd to bring clear and indisputable proofs from the Holy Scripture to demonstrate that our Saviour when he sent forth his Apostles into all Countries to preach the Gospel gave them power not only to teach all Nations preferrably to all humane prohibition which is not doubted but also without the Soveraign's Consent though he should profess the same Christian Religion to establish in the publick Ministry who and how many they themselves thought fit and afterwards to resign to them the right of augmenting their Order without number and without measure whilst no body must contradict them no not so much as he whose Right they so boldly usurped and that in consequence of these their Proceedings since those they had thus establish'd can't live by the Air like Camelions to impower them to scrape together by all sort of Tricks and Inventions not only what may be necessary for the preservation of Life but likewise to subministrate to Luxury and Superfluity and that besides all such as were resolv'd to embrace this Profession should be freed from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Magistrate as also their Goods howsoever acquir'd nay though they immediately proceeded from the Revenue of the Republick and were protected thereby were yet to be independent of the Higher Powers Nor might it be permitted them to lay any Taxes thereon to limit their immoderate Bounds or to convert them to any other use in the greatest case of necessity And that the Supreme Direction of the Affairs of this Order as well in the administration of all Offices as of their Revenues should belong to one of the same Order on whom they should absolutely depend whilst their lawful Soveraign might not pretend to a more prevalent Right although the Multitude or the Rebellion of such a Spiritual Order should tend to the ruine of the State or that it could not be saved but by the communication of their Goods unless the Director of the Order gave his Consent to it Besides all this there remains clearly to be prov'd another Hypothesis which consists in Matter of Fact as for example That Jesus Christ conferr'd on St. Peter alone the spiritual Soveraignty over the Church without the admission of any of the other Apostles into the Government and that such a Prerogative was not confin'd only to his person but that by an equal right it should eternally belong to such as should succeed him in the place whereof he was Bishop As also that St. Peter was actually Bishop of Rome did there exercise such a Soveraignty and that he did irrevocably communicate it to this place alone excluding all others where he afterwards preached Now as the proof of these Propositions is extreamly difficult the Doctors of the Romish Church ought to take care that they do not form them too accurately before their Auditors but only in general terms and to cover 'em with the Foxes Tail for 't is much more their Interest to buzz into the Peoples Ears a number of Reasons which are but little to the purpose as for example the Promises made in Scripture that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church of the Greatness and flourishing estate of the Church of its Antiquity of the Succession of the Popes of the Fathers Councils of the Authority of so many Nations and times of Wonders and such-like stuff very proper for a noisy Declamation 'T is an Expedient likewise which they have found very profitable without much Debate to brand those with the Title of Hereticks that dare to begin any Dispute with them for it is just as much as if they should term them ignorant and impertinent Novices that have not yet learn'd their Trade that don't know how to
Universities have not a little Contributed to the establishment of the Pope's Authority which have been sounded partly by the Pope and partly by other Princes yet after such a manner that most of 'em must receive their Confirmation from Rome and the Pope has arrogated to himself the chief management of them and the consequences of such a Polity are plain enough whilst the Professors who are all the Pope's Creatures do not only establish the opinions of Rome during their Life but do likewise perpetuate them by leaving such Successors as are debauch'd and corrupted with the same Doctrine Hence is it that the Academies and the Studies exercis'd therein have been accommodated as much as possible to the Pope's Interests So that the Professors of Divinity who challenge the first rank in the University were not alone the Pope's Creatures but the Professors also of the Canon-Law were very zealous in defence of the Pope's Authority and mingled his Decrees that he had forced upon Christendom with the Chicane of ordinary Processes for 't is the Canon-Law that has caus'd that tediousness of Law-Suits since the Clergy have usurp'd so great a Jurisdiction the better to satiate their eternal Avarice with the Bribes and Presents which both Parties fee their Advocates with The most part of the Philosophers were also the Pope's Partizans so that no one of 'em durst examine the business seriously for fear of being oppos'd by the others Besides the Divinity and Philosophy which was taught in the Schools was not taught with the design of rendering the Auditors more knowing and learned but that they might amuse and blunt the more penetrating Wits with a parcel of silly non-sensical terms and by that means be hindered from acquiring a fundamental knowledge of those things which might enable them clearly to discover the Papal Cheats Their School-Divinity did not consist in the search and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures but mostly in the decision of unprofitable questions propos'd by Peter Lombard Thomas Aquinas Scotus and other such Patriarchs of fulsom Pedantry That likewise which they name Philosophy is nothing else but ridiculous Chymerical Propositions consisting of barbarous Latin and inexplicable terms the understanding of which was more prejudicial than profitable to the young Students So that all knowledge consisted in knowing nothing rightly And they have had the confidence to teach these Bagatels and idle Speculations not only in barbarous ignorant times but even at this present that all Arts and Sciences are in their Meridian is that leaven spread abroad and propagated with all the industry and cunning imaginable On the contrary good and solid Sciences are oppress'd and especially such as serve to open our Eyes in humane affairs as chiefly the so necessary Doctrine of Morals which is quite spoil'd by them and turned into a Labyrinth out of which it is impossible to disentangle ones self which they make use of to ensnare People and load their Consciences with so many doubts and uncertainties that being no longer able to regulate their Actions by clear and evident Principles they must let themselves be guided by the Will of an interested Confessor Sect. 35. But because it was observ'd that in Luther's time the study of Letters did not a little diminish the Pope's Authority the Jesuites being the faithful Guards of the Papal Chair did afterwards take upon them the management of all Schools and Colleges but not content therewith usurp'd likewise the Instruction of little Children to the end that they might so form their Studies as not only not to prejudice the Kingdom of Darkness but rather to promote and advance the Interest thereof And indeed the Education of Children has not only enrich'd their Society and brought it into great credit but is also a mighty prop to the Papal Authority to which they are more devoted than all the other Orders for thereby they inspire the tender and flexible Youth with Sentiments of an extraordinary respect and veneration for the Pope as also with any other Inclinations that may render them serviceable to their Interests and therefore accustom them from their Youth to an obstinate persistance in the Opinions which they have once embraced and a resolution of never yielding to contrary Reasons so that they are incapable of ever attaining to the knowledge of the Truth The Jesuites also learn from thence the Constancy and Affections of their Scholars of which knowledge they serve themselves very efficaciously when these come to be employ'd in State affairs but those that are dear to them either on the account of their Wit or Riches they most industriously endeavour to draw into their own Order by which means the famous Discipline of their Schools only tends to the supporting of the Pope's Authority and though they are fam'd for an excellent method of teaching Children Latin yet they are very cautious of rendering their Scholars too learned unless they are destin'd to their Order Besides that as the Jesuites by the Government of Colleges have had occasion to draw into their Society a great many learned men and that in their Conversation and way of living they are extreamly civil and polite differing much from the courseness and rebutting Pedantry of the other Monks under the pretence of Confessors they have insinuated themselves into most of the Courts of Europe and by cunningly arrogating to themselves Intrigues of State they sway the Councils of Princes and direct them to their own advantages which as they are inseparably annext to the Pope's so is his never forgot by them Yet nevertheless in some places they have made themselves extreamly odious by their insatiable Avarice and earnestness of interposing in all sort of matters And they are no less envied by the old Orders of Monks as having much encroach'd on their Rights and Authority One of the means which are also us'd to maintain the Grandeur of the Chair of Rome is the Power which the Pope and his Creatures have attributed to themselves of censuring all Books so that nothing may appear in print that is contrary to their Interests which Censure they use with so much rashness and impudence that they do not only retrench what they dislike in old Authors when they are reprinted but they have the confidence to insert whole passages which may be serviceable to their designs If any new piece happen to be written and printed in the Pope's Territories 't is presently taken into a strict examination and whatsoever has slipt in that is contrary to their Interests 't is put into the Index expurgatorius that in the second Edition it may be quite omitted But the Books that are written by their Adversaries are absolutely forbid to be introduced into their Country Nor may any man read them without a special permission or such alone as are so much prejudiced against them that they do not fear will be debauch'd So that by this means they may brand their Adversaries and blacken them as they please since it