of Universal Bishop in which he was confirm'd by a Council held at Rome the Year following After this Corruptions and Heresies crept apace into the Church of Rome which were still opposed by some famous Writers of these Churches both in this and the seventh Century about the end of which viz. in the Year 794 the Emperour Charles the Great having called a Council at Franckfurt did with the Western Churches joyntly endeavour to have drawn Pope Adrian and the Church of Rome out of that gulph of Superstition and Idolatry into which it was fallen by persuading them to embrace the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles But this design proving then ineffectual Lewis the Emperour Son and Successor to Charles undertook and prosecuted the same in the eighth Century and in order thereunto amongst other things he preferr'd to the Archbishoprick of Turin of which the Valleys of Piedmont are part one Claudius a chief Counsellour to Charles the Great and one of the most renowned men of his Age as well for Piety as Learning in the Year 815. But this good man finding that he could not resist that mighty torrent of Superstitious and Idolatrous Blasphemies which were taught and practis'd in the Church of Rome endeavour'd to keep his own Dioceses from being infected with them and to this end he told his People That they ought not to run to Rome for the Pardon of their Sins nor have recourse to the Saints or their Reliques that the Church is not founded upon S. Peter much less upon the Pope but upon the Doctrine of the Apostles that they ought not to worship Images nor so much as have them in their Churches c. These words we find in a Book written by a grand Adversary of his Also the same Author and others of the same stamp confess That Claudius and his Disciples and Successors were People of good Lives and Principles and that nothing could be objected against them for says one whereas all other Sects render themselves horrible by reason of their Blasphemies against God this hath a great appearance of Piety in as much as they live justly before men they believe aright concerning God in all things and hold all the Articles of the Creed there is onely one thing against them viz. that they deny the Church of Rome to be the holy Mother Church and will not obey her Traditions Another saith That these men did own the Christian Church in all other points and that he reckon'd and esteem'd them true Members of it I shall quote one Popish Writer more who was very famous in his time he in a Book published in the year 1632 with approbation and privilege saith That the aforesaid Doctrine which he calls Heresie continu'd throughout the ninth and tenth Centuries And afterward in another Book printed at Turin in the year 1649 dedicated to the Duke of Savoy speaking of the Doctrine which the Churches of the Valleys then held he saith It is the same which Claudius Archbishop of Turin and consequently of the Valleys being within that Diocese maintained in the eighth Century And thus you have seen the constant and uninterupted Succession of the Doctrine of these Churches from the times of the Apostles to that of Claudius and so through the ninth and tenth Centuries till the Waldenses came into these Valleys which was in the eleventh Century where they have profess'd and taught the same ever since I need not take the pains to prove the continued Succession of this Doctrine in those Churches from the eleventh Century till now because all Popish Writers do unanimously confess it but seeing divers of them have had the impudence to tell the World that the Waldenses who escaped the Massacre in France in the year 1165 and came from thence into the Valleys of Piedmont were the first Founders of that Religion which the Inhabitants there own and profess at this present I cannot but answer such Writers by telling them that it is not at all probable that the Waldenses who knew that the Seat of their grand Adversary was in Italy could have been so void of all sence and common prudence as to have undertaken so long and tedious a Journey over the Alps had they not been well assured beforehand that tho Natives of those Valleys had professed the same Religion with them and would receive and embrace them as Brethren I shall conclude this subject with a passage mention'd in the Preface of a French Bible which these Inhabitants caused to be printed at their own charge in the year 1535 and dedicate it to God himself where speaking as it were to him they say That they had always fully enjoy'd that Heavenly Truth contained in the Holy Scriptures ever since they were enriched with the same by the Apostles themselves I now come to give you the Causes of the Massacre in the Year 1655 and though many might be assign'd I shall mention two onely viz. the one general and the other particular the general Cause was the implacable Hatred and Malice of the Bishop of Rome and his Clergy against the Reformed Churches in the Valleys of Piedmont and in truth this hath been the Cause of all the other Massacres and Persecutions which have happen'd not onely in those Valleys but in all other parts of Europe ever since the Apostacy of the Romish Church has taken place and her tyrannical and usurped Power prevail'd in the World The particular Cause of this and other Massacres and Persecutions that have happen'd in these Valleys is the yearly allowance of Pensions Prebends Bishopricks Abbeys and Priories by the Court of Rome to the most eminent persons of the Duke of Savoy's Court upon condition of doing their utmost to destroy the Protestants and their Religion The principal means made use of by these Courtiers for effecting their designe were the same which had always prov'd successful formerly viz. they incensed the Duke of Savoy against his Protestant Subjects by many calumnies and false suggestions too tedious to be here inserted in so much that he publish'd an Order dated the 25th of January 1655. by which he commanded all his Protestant Subjects of what age sex or condition soever inhabiting certain Valleys therein mention'd to depart to other Valleys therein also nam'd in three days upon pain of death unless they should turn Papists within twenty days c. And though these poor Christians endeavour'd by their humble Addresses and Supplications to have oblig'd him to revoke this unjust and tyrannical Order yet he utterly refused to do it However he was not able to answer one of those many Arguments urged in their Petitions to induce him to grant their desires I shall name three First They urge the several Concessions made to them and their Ancestours by the Duke and his Predecessours for the free exercise of the reformed Religion in the Valleys of Piedmont and the quiet and peaceable enjoyment of their civil Rights and Priviledges Secondly They urge that
a Friar For unto this it may truly be compar'd though the Prophet spake of another thing namely of the Incarnation of our Lord which exceedeth all other Wonders and Miracles As also the Apostle Saint Paul referreth the same words unto the Resurrection of Christ Acts 13. v. 41. When the Prophet says Awork he means not by it some common or ordinary thing but a rare and notable matter and worthy to be remembred as that of the Creation of the World The heavens are the work of thy hands and again He rested the seventh day from all the works which he had made When he saith I have wrought with these words the Scripture is wont to express things not to come to pass casually by fortune or accident but things falling out by the determined Counsel Will Providence and Ordinance of God As our Saviour says The works that I do shall yeâ— do also and greater works than these Joh. 14. v. 12. and many more in Holy Writ to the like purpose Now that he says that it is done in times past herein he follows the use and manner of the other Prophets who for the certainty of the Event are wont to predict things to come as if they were past already for as the Philosophers say Things past are of necessity things present of being and things to come onely of possibility so do they speak For which certainty the Prophet Esay long before prophecying of the Death of Christ hath thus spoken He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before his shearer so opened he not his mouth c. as it is likewise repeated Acts 8. And this of which we are now speaking and which has hapned in these our days is a very famous memorable and well nigh incredible thing not done or accomplished without the particular providence and disposition of the Almighty A Frier has kill'd a King not a painted one in paper nor pictur'd out upon a wall but the French King in the middle of his Armies encompassed round about with his Guard and Souldiers which truly is such an Act and done in such a manner that none will believe when it shall be told them and perhaps our Posterity after us will account and esteem it but a Fable That the King is dead or else slain it is easily to be believ'd but that he is kill'd and taken away in such sort is hardly credible Even as we presently assent that Christ is born of a Woman but if we further add of a Virgin Woman then according to Humane Reason we cannot assent unto it And so we can readily believe that Christ died but that he rose from the dead to life again this to mans natural understanding is impossible and therefore incredible because there is no return from a Privation to an Habit. That one is awakened again out of a Sleep Ecstasie or a Swoun because it is not against Nature we naturally believe it but to be risen again from the dead it seemed so incredible a thing to Nature that Saint Paul disputing with the Athenian Philosophers about this very point was disgusted for it and accused to be a Setter forth of new or strange Gods and some as S. Luke reports mocked him others said We will hear thee again of this matter Of such things therefore which befall not according to the Laws of Nature and the ordinary course thereof speaketh the Prophet viz. That none shall believe it when it shall be told them But we give credit unto it whilest we consider the Omnipotency of God and by submitting our own Understandings to the Obedience of Faith and the Commands of our Saviour Christ and by these means what was incredible before by Nature becometh credible by Faith We therefore that as mere Men cannot believe Christ to be born of a Virgin when this is further added that it was wrought supernaturally by the Operation of the Holy Ghost then we truly assent to it and faithfully believe it So likewise when it is said that Christ is risen again from the dead naturally we believe it not but when it is affirmed that this was done by the Power of the Divine Nature which was in him then we readily and without any kind of doubting believe it In the same manner though to Natural Reason and Humane Capacity it may seem a thing incredible or altogether improbable that such a mighty King should be slain in the midst of his Army environ'd round with his Guards and Souldiers by a poor simple weak Religionist or Frier Yet considering on the other side the great and grievous sins of this King and the special Providence of the Almighty herein and by what a strange and wonderful way he hath accomplished his most just Will and Judgment against him then we fully and most firmly believe it and therefore this great and miraculous Work we are to ascribe to a particular Providence of God onely not as those that erroneously refer all things unto some ordinary Causes or unto Fortune or such like accidentary Events but as those who more nearly observing and looking into the course of the whole matter do easily see that there were many things in tervening in it which could not have been brought to pass and dispatched without the special help of God And truly the state of Kings and Kingdoms and all other such rare and weighty Affairs should not be thought to be Governed of God rashly and unadvisedly there are some Instances in holy Writ of this nature and none of them can be referred unto any other cause but God only but yet there is none wherein the celestial operation more appeareth than in this whereof we are now speaking We read in the first Book of Macchabees c. 6. how Eleazer run himself upon a certain Death to Kill the King that was an Enemy and Persecutor of the People and Children of God For in the Battel espying an Elephant higher and more stately than the rest whereon it was like the King rode with a swift pace casting himself into the midst of his Enemies Troops here and there making his way by force he came to the Beast at last and went under her and thrust his Sword into her Belly and slew her who falling with great weight of her Body press'd him to death and Kill'd him out of hand Here in this Instance we may see something not unlike to ours viz. as to zeal valiantness of mind and the issue of the Enterprize but in the rest there is no Comparison to be made Eleazar was a Souldier exercised in Weapons and trained up in Wars set in Battel emboldned with courage and inflamed with rage and anger This a Fryer not inured to fighting and so abhoring blood by the Order of his Profession that perhaps he could not abide the cutting of a Vein He knew the kind of his Death as also the place of his Burial namely that he should be Entombed under the fall of the
Beast and so buried in the midst of his triumph and victory This Man lookt for a certain death and expected nothing but unknown and most cruel torments and did not doubt before but that he should want a Grave to rest within But there be many other things wherein these two Instances can suffer no comparison The famous History of the holy Woman Judith is sufficiently known who determined with her self God no doubt immediately moving her to it that the might deliver the City and the People of God to Kill … phernes the General and Chief Commander of the Enemies 〈◊〉 which she most effect … y accomplished Wherein although appear many and most manifest signs of Heavenly Direction yet far greater Arguments of God's Providence are to be seen in killing of this King and the delivering of the City of Paris far more difficult and harder to be brought to pass than was the Enterprise of Judith For this holy Woman discovered her intention to some of the Governours of the City and passed through in sight and presence of the Elders and Princes of that place and by that means was not subject unto their examination and searching which is always us'd so strictly in time of Siege and War that a Fly can hardly without examination escape them She being come to the Enemy through whose Company and Watches she was to go and oftentimes searched and examined being a Woman and carrying no Letters nor Weapons about her from whence any Suspicion might arise and withall yielding Reasons for her coming thither and abandoning her Relations was easily discharged and not onely upon the forementioned causes but also for her Sex and exquisite Beauty being brought before this lewd and unchast Prince she might perform that which she had determined before This is Judith's Case But this Religious Man undertook and perform'd a matter of greater weight encompassed with so many Impediments Difficulties and Dangers that no Subtilty of Man no humane policy nor any worldly wisdom but onely the clear and visible Providence of God and his special Aid could bring it to pass First Letters Commendatory were to be procured of the contrary party then was he constrained to go through that Gate of the City that led to the Enemy's Camp the which without doubt was so narrowly kept and watched in the Extremity of that Siege that every trifle bred suspicion and none were suffered to go forth without narrow searching before touching their Letters Messages Business and Affairs they â—ad But he a wonderful thing passed through the Watch unexamined yea with Letters Credential unto the Enemy which if they had been intercepted by the Citizens without any delay and further tryal he should have been executed presently And therefore this is a manifest Argument of Gods Providence But this is a far greater Miracle that he without searching went also through the Enemies Camp by divers Watches and Centinels and which is more through the King's Guard du Corps and finally through the whole Army which was made up mostly of Hereticks he being a Religious Man and clad in the Habit of his Order which was so odious a Garb to those men that they either killed or severely treated all those Friers whom they found in those places which not long before they had taken about Paris Judith was a Woman and nothing odious yet examined often she carried nothing that might have turned to her danger and destruction This man a Frier and therefore hated and most suspected having also a Knife prepared for that purpose not in a Scabbard which might have made his Excuse probable but naked and concealed in his Sleeve which if it had been found about him he would questionless have been put to death Immediately All these are such clear Arguments of the particular Providence of God that they cannot be denied neither could it otherwise be but that God blinded the Eyes of the Enemy that they could not see nor know him For as we have said before although some do absurdly ascribe this unto Fortune or Chance yet none can refer the whole matter to no other cause but the will and holy purpose of God And indeed I could not believe this to have been done otherwise unless I should captive or submit my Understanding to the Obedience of Christ who determined by these miraculous means to deliver and set at liberty the City of Paris which as we have heard was in great danger and extremity and to punish the notorious sins of that King and to deprive him of this Life by such an unhappy and infamous kind of Death and we truly not without great inward grief have oft-times foretold that as he was the last of his Name and Family so was he like to have and make some strange and shameful end of his Life And that I have several times said this thing not onely the Cardinals Jâ—iosa Lenocortius and … siensis but also the Orator at that time here resident can sufficiently testifie For we mean not to call the dead to attest our words but the living some whereof at this very present do yet well remember them But whatsoever we have been forc'd to speak against this unfortunate King we would by no means have it thought to be intended against the noble Realm of France which we shall emâ—race and foster hereafter as we have hitherto always done with all Fatherly Love Honour and Affection This therefore which we with grief have spoken concerns the King's Person onely whose unhappy and unlucky End deprives him also of those Honourable Offices and Respects which this Holy Seat the tender Mother of all Faithful but especially of Christian Princes is wont to pay to Emperours and Kings which we most willingly would likewise have bestowed on him if the Holy Scriptures in this case had not altogether forbidden it There is saith S. John a sin unto death I say not that any should pray for it which may be understood either of the Sin it self as if he should say for that Sin or for the remission of that Sin I will that none should pray because it is not pardonable Or else which comes to the same sence for that Man who committeth such a Sin unto death I say not that any should pray for Of which Sin our Saviour himself has spoken in S. Matthew saying That he that sinneth against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven neither in this world nor in the world to come where he setteth down three sorts or kinds of Sins to wit against the Father against the Son and against the Holy Ghost and that the two first are less heinous and pardonable but that the third is altogether unpardonable All which difference proceedeth from the distinction of the Attributes as the Schools teach us out of the holy Scriptures which severally are appropriated to every several Person of the holy Trinity For although as the Essence of all the three Persons is but one so also is their Power