A REPLIE VNTO a certaine Libell latelie set foorth by Fa Parsons in the name of vnited Priests intituled A manifestation of the great folly and bad spirit of certaine in England calling themselues seculer Priestes With an addition of a Table of such vncharitable words and phrases as by him are vttered in the said Treatise aswell against our parsons as our bookes actions and proceedings ¶ Pro iustitia agonizare pro anima tua et vsque ad mortem certâ pro iustitia et Deus expugnabit pro te inimicos tuos Ecclesiast cap. 4. ¶ Noli esse humilis in sapientia tua ne humiliatus in stultitiam seducaris Ibidem cap. 13. ⧠Justitiae et innocentiae permissu Anno Dom. 1603. The Epistle to the Priests said to be vnited with the Archpriest * ⎠* REuerend and my deere bretheren whom with my soule I loue and honour with my hart I cannot but be sory to see you so vniustly abused by the slights and cunning deuises of the Iesuits and more to see you whom wisedome and discretion should make perfect and expert in the affaires of our poore afflicted Church so applaude their proceedings that worke your bane or at the least by holding your peace to approoue such actions in them as tend to the ouerthrow of your selues Tell mee I beseech you in your owne vnderstandings are you not highly abused in bearing the name of these two late Libells viz. the Apologie and Manifestation in both which not onely the honour of priesthood is impeached and our whole Cleargie disgraced debased and sought to be held in slauery and subiection to the Iesuits theyr creatures but also such vndutifull actions and practises as haue beene attempted by them or any other Catholicke from the beginning of her Maiesties raigne vntill this day are maintained defended excused or iustified whereby your liues are engaged as accessary to all treasons plots practises done or attempted against our Soueraigne and Country by such parsons in that to approue defend or maintaine any action is as you knowe to make the approuer defender and maintainer accessary thereto iudge then what cause you haue to thanke such Maisters for this theyr good office in laying snares to entrappe you withall and thinke whether this deuise be not a plot of purpose to bring you into as great obloquy with your Prince as through theyr own vndutifull practises they haue brought themselues thereby to turne the sword of persecution vpon all as heeretofore for some particuler mens offences Deere brethren if you regard not the wrongs and oppressions doone to vs your brethren and neerer vnto you in all right of reason then the Iesuits are if you regard not the deiection and oppression of your Cleargie which they violently seeke if you respect not theyr actions and attempts against your natiue country and neerest friends yet regard your selues respect your owne liues haue a care to the common and generall good of altogether insiduated and betrayed by them disclaime from such actions wherein you haue no part neither desire I thinke to haue I know your harts to be loyall let them not be stained by a false imputation from a deceitfull Iesuit Beleeue me her Maiestie dooth make difference betwixt practisers in matters of state and religion and therefore suffer not your names to be brought into question for such odious dealings by the cunning policies of Fa. Parsons inrowling thē to the approbations of such hatefull trecheries And if there were n◠difference at all made as I know there is yet were it glorious to die a Cath priest in profession of the Cath fayth without taint or imputation of those foule crimes But some of you happily may be ignorant how farre you are abused in this kinde vouchsafe but the reading ouer of this reply to the latter Libell you shall easily perceiue more danger to be couched therein then you are aware of and thereby see the better what wrong is offered you in publishing the same in your names If in the perusing hereof any word may seeme ouer-sharpe which yet I haue endeuoured to auoyde consider I beseech you the deformity of some matters vniustly vncharitably auerred against vs that all such sharpe words touch onely one man the Author of these iniurious Libels and Architect of this whole businesse and then I hope you will with more ease yeeld pardon to such excesse If any other faults eyther in stile or defectiue handling of matters obiected occur beare with the author this beeing his first worke and hudled vp in hast without such helpes as longer time might haue affoorded him yeelding him in all things as fauourable a censure as you may who is ready to protest in the sincerity of a Catholicke priest that neyther malice anger passion nor desire of reuenge drew him to vndertake this worke but onely a sincere opinion of iustice and innocencie so much impugned by Fa Parsons in defence wherof hee thought himselfe bound as well in respect of the common cause as his owne particuler interest therein to shew his best indeuours Your friend and brother VV. C. ⧠The Preface generall to Catholickes COurteous and beneuolent Catholicks I present here vnto you a reply vnto a certaine Libell intituled A manifestation of the great folly and bad spirit of certaine in England calling themselues seculer Priests which happening into my hands I diligently red ouer hauing without passion perused it and with indifferencie as to my selfe seemed poysing and considering as well the matter deliuered with the forme and manner of the deliuery as also the verity thereof I could not but a little wonder to see a man so mightily inueigh against passion and bitter writing in others shewing so much choler passion yea and impatience as hee doth here And did I not descry the Author thereof to be one particuler Parson not many priests vnder whose names falsly yea and vncharitably it is published thereby to bring them into obloquy with their Prince and state vnto whom the Iesuits practises in state matters heere defended are odious I should much admire to see so palpable vntruths defended so manifest vniust actions maintained and such apparant verities with such boldnes denied but the worke proceeding frō the party it doth hammered in the forge it was I could expect no other then I found therefore my wonder was the lesse and my admiration sooner at an end For why the man is well knowne to be of such a naturall disposition as that if he once enter into any course he will with infinite violence prosecute the same Vpon which headstrong cariage irremouable wilfulnes many straines you know and ouerstrainings must needs follow and many fained inuentions with concealements of truthes yea and in the end open impugnations of verities the better to iustifie former proceedings least happily otherwise the fault might seeme too light where it may in no case be indured Pardon mee deere Catholickes in deliuering the truth with
life or friends will ensue I am not onely patronized therein to defend my selfe friends and Country opposing my selfe against such euils but also am bound thereto Neither therein can I iustly be said to resist or impugne the Catho Religion or defend heresie in that I onely stand directly for that which the law of nature bindeth me vnto And if any hinderance thereby of Cath Religion should follow it were not to be imputed vnto me not intending any such impeachment or damage to Gods Church nor doing any act which of it selfe tendeth to any such end Secondly it is well knowne vnto me that Christ hath left other meanes by preaching teaching and good example of life for the conuersion of Infidels Hereticks or sinners and to me it is not knowne that Christes will is that my Countrey shall be conuerted by the sword and not by his word and such other holy meanes Yea it rather appeareth vnto me that our relapsed Country is to be conuerted by the way and meanes that Christ himselfe and his Apostles vsed and not by such bloody and desperate courses Therefore I may and am bound rather to cleaue vnto that meane then to any other extreame or vnnaturall enterprises Thirdly we see by practise that GOD hath euer disfauoured such attempts to the admirable preseruation both of her Maiestie and our Country which may giue vs iust cause to think that God is not pleased with such violent courses Fourthly whatsoeuer cause may be in a forrainer or in the Pope himselfe to impugne or inuade our country which may make his quarrell iust and lawfull on his part yet am not I to take notice thereof Yea though the cause were euidently iust in my knowledge and conscience yet I am not bound to leaue my countrey and assist him For the common good of my country and weale thereof is to be preferred before the particuler right of any person vvhatsoeuer And hereupon it falleth out that many times the inuader or oppugner hath iust cause to inuade with armes and therein doth no iniustice and yet for all that on the contrarie side the defendants may iustly by force of armes keepe defend themselues and countrey from such hostile incursions their liberties and country beeing more deere vnto them then the righting of any particuler parson For if a priuate person possessing goods or lands in controuersie be not bound in conscience to forsake them and deliuer them vp vnto the owners who by sentence of law hath recouered them vntill such time as by execution of the ciuill Magistrats or sherieffe the possession thereof be giuen from him what reason is there that a whole country wherein alwaies are many innocents not guilty of any iust cause of such oppressions should yeeld vp their rights and become slaues and vassalles to forrainers loosing the rights and priuiledges of their country But you will say vnto me that neyther the Pope is a forrayner in respect of his authority and dominion extending ouer the whole world neither is this cause beeing Catholicke religion his particuler right but the right which ought to be in euery creature To the first I aunswer that notwithstanding that the Pope according to his spirituall authority might be said to be no forrainer yet if he come as an Inuader vnder what pretence soeuer hee may be said to vs a forrayner in that his power consisteth of forrainers and cruell souldiers by whose villanie many miseries and oppressions were sure to light vppon innocents and vtter spoyle vpon our whole country Neyther were I bound to belieue the Pope though hee should affirme the contrary because the wills of souldiers by whō such villanies and oppressions would be committed could not be in his power And therefore I say that if the Pope could bring Christ with him in person or an army of Angels whereby we might be assured that reformation should follow without oppressions or extreame miseries and calamities then we might take part with him but if he come with an armie of men and such men as souldiers are whom all villanies follow he must not blame vs if to auoyd such euils we sticke to the law of nature and defend our selues our Prince and country And heereupon it is that we say wee be perswaded that priests of what order soeuer ought not by force of armes to plant or water the Catholick faith but in spiritu lenitatis et mansuetudinis to propagate and defend it considering the inconueniences which follow armes and inuasions and the little fruit that commeth thereof or the small number of Catholicks that arise thereby so little good example of vertue beeing giuen by souldiers especially Spaniards Yet by the way I may not omit to note againe Father Pars his perfidious dealing in displacing of the word defend saying that no priests ought to plant water or defend vvhich followeth not in our sentence For a man may by armes somtimes defend a thing got which by armes he could not iustlie get As for example Munks or religious men may not get themselues Monasteries or lands by force of armes but hauing iustly got them otherwise and hauing an absolute authoritie within their precincts they may by force keepe them from such forrainers as vniustly inuade thē if otherwise they cannot So may and ought religious men and priests to defend catholick countries from the incursions of the Turke Infidels or hereticks as oft times they haue done But it followeth not therfore that they may goe into the countreys of Infidels in hostile manner with armes onely to plant the catholick faith by force But this is after the old fashion of Fa Parsons iust dealings I could heere vrge him with an obiection which would please him but a little to wit that if euery man be bound to assist the Pope inuading as he would haue him it is for that the cause he pretendeth is iust And then doe I say secundum magis et minus that not onely the Pope but euery Prince or other person comming with force of Armes into any Countrey is to be receaued and assisted by the inhabitants and subiects of the Country if his cause be knowne to be iust vnder payne of deadly sinne Which if it be true why then did not his great Maiestie of Spayne in Paule the fourths time restore Naples vnto the sea of Rome when as Caraff inuaded the same with force of armes The world will say and the Pope himselfe will affirme that he hath more right thereto then the Spaniard how chaunced it then that hee kept it by force frō the Pope still doth See what confusion would follow Fa Parsons doctrine But he will say that religion is not onely a matter of iustice but also of necessity binding all men thereunto To this I aunswer that though it be a thing of necessity yet is not this necessity of force or compulsion but vpon election as Christ left it and euery man hath in his free will whether hee vvill accept
or the right of the States it as little importeth considering that he was put in trust with it by her Maiestie and vpon his alleageance to her should haue discharged the trust and fidelity reposed in him in that charge To dispute the case whether hee might in conscience or ought in danger of mortall sinne deliuer vp the Towne to the King of Spaine is not necessary to our purpose yet this I will say that all which Fa Parsons hath said in proofe thereof is not worth a rush vnlesse hee proue two points first that her Maiestie is the person that hath giuen the first cause of breach of the league with the Spaniards which I think if matters be well examined will proue contrary as you may see by the attempts made by the Spaniard both secretly and publiquely against her Highnesse and state before aleadged nothing being attempted by her against his Maiestie of Spaine or any his Countryes Which being true then might she iustly and in conscience iure gentium make warre against him win his Townes and Countries from him and in right and iustice detaine them Secondly he must proue that Sir William Stanley knowing in his conscience that she had no iust cause of warre against the Spaniard which I think he could not know might deliuer vp the said Towne without a greater mischiefe to follow vpon such restitution for a man is not bound to make restitution of goods euill gotten or possessed mala fide when without imminent danger of his owne or other mens liues he cannot doe as all Canonists will confesse because the life of a man is dearer then goods and the lesse euill must be preferred before the greater As for example if I should haue vniustly taken away the weapons of another man and had beene malae fidei possessor yet if I should perceaue that the true owner were paratus ad homicidium and thereby eyther my owne life or others might be endangered if I should restore his weapons vnto him which erst I had taken vniustly from him in this case it is euident that I were not bound to make restitution although I were as I haue said malae fidei possessor So in this case of Sir William Stanleyes if greater mischiefe might probably ensue thereof then the deteyning of the Towne could be he was not bound thereto Which case Fa Parsons hath not handled Now will I referre the censure to other men whether greater euill did not grow vnto our common cause in England by this particuler fact of Sir William Stanlies in that the state was thereby exasperated against all cath for his fact which great damage and common hurt of his Country-men and Cath he was in charity bound more to regard then the restitution of one Towne to the Spaniard And therefore waying and considering the auersion and alienation of our state from Cath for such facts as these of Sir William and the like wee haue often wished that if his conscience had felt any touch or scruple concerning those warres he had otherwise quietly left them off or with-drawne himselfe without giuing any such open occasion of complaint vnto the state But his not onely deliuering vp of that Towne but also ioyning himselfe with the Spaniard in field against his Soueraigne and Country may not be approued by any good subiect And therfore I wish that so worthy a martiall man had conuerted his sword against the Turke or other common enemies and not against his owne Soueraigne and Country that by his actions our Prince might haue had no iust cause to haue beene offended with vs at home Aliens and strangers may doe what they will and wee yet remaine blamelesse if wee haue no part with them because they are strangers but when naturall subiects of our owne Country and Cath shal in these iealous and suspicious times practise or conuert their weapons against their Prince and Country it cannot but incense their wrath and indignation against all Cath at home as by experience we haue felt Touching Fa Parsons vrging of an Epistle writ by Card Allen in defence hereof what might be his reason or whether he did it of himselfe or vrged there-vnto by reason of the great expectance of the Spanish intention anno 1588. immediatly following which we suspect I cannot tell but I wish with all my hart it had beene vnwritten considering the little good hath come thereby Neither is this to dishonour the worthy Card as Fa Parsons would make it but contrariwise to shew our loue and honour we beare towards him in that we hartily wish such ouer-sights or inconuenient actions as the best man in this life is not without imperfections nor the wisest in his iudgement without errors had neuer proceeded from him And whereas such things as the book written in the yeere 1588. this Epistle are too too euident and publiquely knowne to our state and all men else we seeke to excuse the same as much as in vs lyeth that the fault or rather the errour may by circumstances seeme more tolerable which no man of wit or discretion can deny to be an euident demonstration of our loue and affections towards him as our dearest and worthiest Father Which cannot be odious and offensiue in vs to our Prince state as we trust in that duty and nature bindeth euery man extraordinarily to loue their parents and founders eyther naturall or spirituall And therefore to excuse them is but a shew of filiall loue and affection but obstinatly to defend and maintaine that in a parent which is no way approueable were meere sycophancie not loue meere peeuishnes not any tolerable affection Now come we to the great attempt made by the Spaniards in the yeere 1588. out of which action Fa Parsons exempteth all English Iesuits because he saith himselfe fa Holt and fa Creswell were then in Rome with Cardinall Allen and that no English Iesuit at all was residing at that time eyther in Spaine or in the Low-countries But all this proueth not that therefore the Iesuits had no part in this action Neither can it be probable to any man of iudgement or vnderstanding that the Iesuits beeing so great with the King and so forward in attempts against our Country hauing had their fingers in matters precedent as you haue seene would now sit still hauing so faire an offer made and so good opportunity to be dooing I confesse that there was no great respect made to the English beyond the Seas in that action nor in any other of the Spaniards will be if euer matters come to issue nor perhaps were the English Iesuits called to be counsellers therein as since they haue beene because indeede the Spaniard intended a most bloody conquest and translation of our state and people But to thinke that the Iesuits were not vrgers thereto and setters forwards to theyr power of that attempt were to contradict all reason and probabilities For first it is most certaine that all the vvorld had very
the second or third day after his beeing at Wisbich he much disliked the violent proceeding of fa Westons part and complained of the impatience and importunity of some of them saying that they were ready to pull his cloake from his backe because hee would not heare their clamors Howsoeuer he grew afterwards to fauour them and their proceedings let him looke to it It is true that since that time hee hath prosecuted some matters further then any man in conscience could doe so hath affection blinded or ouer-ruled him as by a letter written by him in the Iesuits behalfes I haue shewed in the first chapter Concerning Fa Garnets politick dealing in those affaires then and in diuers other since I referre you also to the first chapter of this Reply to the Relation it selfe and to all those bookes that haue beene written of our late troubles Wherin if you finde not store of policies and such as I thinke may beseeme a right cunning politician blame my iudgement as very meane and weake And therefore as in the beginning I said so say I still that no wise man will measure euery man by euery good action that proceedeth frō him or euery good word he vttereth but measure his actions and words by their sequels circumstances Because euery defect diminisheth the good and corrupteth the best morall deed of man Otherwise we might truly say hypocrites were the best men because commonly they do at the least publiquely the most morall good deedes VVee may not omit heere the great humilitie hee also noteth in this Fa Weston for his promiscuall sitting at the table sometimes heere sometimes there as it pleased him leauing his proper place which was beneath Ma. Doctor Bagshaw and Ma. Bluet which in the Relation is iustly condemned For before this there was much murmuring amongst his associates that he was not preferred vnto the highest place before the foresaid two priests which because hee could not obtaine hee framed that new fashion of sitting as nouelties alwayes follow pride thereby vnder a colour forsooth of humility to take away the note of his minority to the aforesaid Doct and M. Bluet And let not Fa Parsons after his accustomed manner say that this is a malitious interpretation of his humble act for nouelties neuer follow humility but pride and disdaine Neyther can he auoyd the note of nouelty in this action of fa Weston because religious men vse such manner of sitting in their Monasteries For to introduce into the secular Clergie those things which may be fitly vsed of Friers and Monkes in their Monasteries were both a nouelty and ridiculous And so we account of this particuler action of promiscuall taking place at meales resembling the Puritans consistories where there must be no Bishop nor degree but a democraticall brotherhood all alike which the Church of GOD hath euer detested in her Clergie But if this humble Father would haue shewed true and sincere humilitie indeede he should haue betaken himselfe to his true place in that hee was a religious man haue set himselfe beneth all the priests there at the nether end of the table Neither could bee in iustice challenge any higher place beeing a priuate religious man in his order and no prelate as Father Parsons would haue him to be because he had beene his substitute in England ouer the Iesuits but neuer Prouinciall though wee termed him so in that he was his delegate For his said substitution surceasing hee was but as before a priuate religious man whereas the other priests were are verè pastores And euery man knoweth that the place of a pastor is aboue any priuate religious man though of curtesie somtimes they may vpon opinion of their sanctitie giue such a place vnto them In the 22. leafe hee talketh of wonderfull folly in vs and passionate proceeding in telling you of the greatnes of that societie through all Christendome that many great men both of the Laïtie and Clergie were Iesuits Iesuited and that fa Parsons was an especiall man with the king of Spaine the Pope and Cardinals All which make against vs as hee saith and shew fa Parsons vertues and good parts and the great reuerence esteeme of the whole Societie A strange folly sure this is Cardinall Wolsey was a great man with King Henry the eyght with the Emperour Charles the fift vvith the King of Fraunce and other great Princes and for a time he could doe great matters with them all ergo Card Wolsey was a vertuous and holy man Stay there Ma Parsons you will not say so Frier George in Hungarie was a great man with the Emperour sometimes and with other Princes other times and ruled all the country at his pleasure ergo a good vertuous man It dooth not follow Fa Parsons is or hath beene a great man with the King of Spaine deceiued the Pope abused Cardinall Caietane and other princes many great men haue had a better opinion of him then hee deserued whereby he hath been reputed for a more honest man then he proueth ergo fa Parsons is a Frier George or Wolsey Doth not this conclusion follow as fitly as the other Haue not many times bad lewd men wonne great fauor and credite both with Popes and other Princes What great folly I pray you was it to tell you that father Parsons could doe much with the Pope or other great men with his iugling or that he was great with the king of Spaine by reason of his practizing vnnaturally against his owne Country in his behalfe or what folly is it to tell you that his Order is very powerfull in all Christendome Indeed it is a bugge to many faint-harted Catholicks yea and to some of our brethren to who seeing their greatnes are afraid to encounter with them though their cause be neuer so iust But let them be as great as they can the greatnes of their order power thereof gaineth not sanctitie to euery member I pray God that the conceit thereof make not some of them be bold in going still forward with their most wicked designements which howsoeuer they shall presume to attempt they shall by Gods grace find such as both dare and will to theyr powers withstand those their indeuours notwithstanding all their greatnes As for the auerring of some great men to haue beene Iesuits or Iesuited it is certaine that many great men haue too much fauoured them through an opinion of their sanctitie VVhereby some times they haue beene the easier drawne to like of their proceedings But that euer any of vs said that Cardinall Allen was a Iesuit it is an vntruth of a Iesuit and the same I thinke of Doctor Saunders and Doctor Bristow though they might be too much affected towards them vppon such an erroneous opinion But as for Don Bernardino Mendoza it is known that he was wholy affectionate to thē and it is but an ordinary course with the Iesuits to bind both noble men
all the probability we haue that fa Parsons was a stickler therein or some other Iesuits is this that in the Romane Colledge before diuers of the students there hee could deliuer the plot and euery circumstance thereof so exactly that all men which heard him adiudged him to haue beene in the very bosome of that designement In which discourse he deliuered some particulers as that it was plotted that the Earles sonne should trauaile vpon licence out of England and comming into Millaine should haue been staied vnder I know not what pretences that thereby the Earle himselfe might haue been lesse suspected in England about his plot and intentions This fa Parsons deliuered there as diuers yet will witnes which could not but demonstrate him to haue been inward with that plot in that also this intention concerning the Earles sonne vvas vnknowne vnto the Queene and state as I vnderstand vntill by this his discourse it was made publique Note still gentle Reader how all circumstances bring in the Iesuits to be accessary to all plots and deuises As concerning the plot of Babington and the other gentlemen it is not ascribed vnto the Iesuits directly but onely alledged as an vndutifull practise and treacherous against her Maiestie and state by those gracelesse Iesuited gentlemen whereby great hurt and preiudice arose vnto the Catholicks and catholicke cause in our Country And the matters beeing so apparently treasonable fault is found with Ma. Southwell for that he excuseth it in his supplication going about to lay all the blame thereof vppon the Secretary Sir Frauncis Walsingham as though he had beene the inuenter and layer of the plot and perswader or drawer on of the Gentlemen thereunto Which is both false and ridiculous to imagine that he durst practise in laying such dangerous plots of state without her Maiesties priuitie howsoeuer his intentions were to breake the necke of all in the end with the ouerthrowing of the dealers therein Neither could the Gentlemen be excused if he had been the first author and perswader thereof for that no mans perswasion may excuse an euill act that in it selfe is euill for so might a man lay all his sinnes perhaps vpon the deuils backe But howsoeuer Ma. Secretary Walsingham entertained the plot after it was reuealed vnto him by some of the confederates to bring it vnto the ful perfection wherein perhaps he did more then hee had thanks for of her Maiestie yet can it not be denied but that the plot practise proceeded from themselues and theyr owne confederats and was by them really intended as appeared manifestly by theyr owne confessions And therefore to be excused afterwards by a Iesuit could not but yeeld suspition vnto her Maiestie and the state of hollow loyaltie in Catholicks towards her who would goe about to excuse apparant treasonable practises against her person thereby to perswade her subiects and others that such as were iustly put to death for theyr treasons were not guilty therein but that they vvere onely plots and inuentions of the state themselues which is to defame the publique iustice of a Prince theÌ„ which a greater wrong cannot be done especially when matters are apparant to the contrary And that this fact of Ma. Southwell was iustly condemned and disalowed as inconuenient to omit iniuries to her Maiestie and state the effects since haue demonstrated as much the state hauing been more exasperated there-with then with any pamphlet writ these latter yeeres as hath appeared by the execution of three seuerall persons for onely medling therewith and divulging it Thus you see that what hath been said concerning Anthony Babingtons matter hath beene spoken with great reason and moderation without any accusation at all of the Iesuits therin but onely touching our dislike of the excuse of this foule fact afterwards made by Fa Southwell by which the inconueniencies specified arose as all men will witnes But sith Fa Parsons is agreeued with that little sparingly set downe in some fiue lines onely he must giue vs leaue to deliuer you some probabilities where-vpon we could haue taxed them with suspition of dealing therein The plot was but a continuance as it were of Parryes deuise and Throgmortons practises in which as you haue seene they and their fauourites were Counsellers perswaders and abetters and therefore not improbable that they would prosecute the same when any opportunity should be fitly offered and a fitter theÌ„ this wherein so many resolute Gentlemen were combined they could not haue That the Iesuits were not taxed of this at the arraignments of these Gentlemen or accused by their confessions imports little For you must know that the Iesuits are wise and cunning politicians and can tell how to manage matters by secondary or third meanes lying aloofe off themselues and being least seene or suspected such as haue beene acquainted with their dealings know this which I say not to be voyde of truth Hauing then had some experience in the faile of Parry his plot and Throgmortons in which especially the first they were neerely touched it behoued them to be more warie and deale with more cunning and secrecie then they had done That Fa Parsons Fa Holt and Fa Creswell were at Rome and Naples is little to the purpose the intercourse of letters and intelligences from all places being so speedy familier and common with them wheresoeuer they remaine as it is knowne to be Besides at that time Fa Darbishire lay in Fraunce and vnlesse I be deceaued in Paris a man fit by the reports of men of iudgement to deale in such affaires and with cunning enough And to all this the conference which Ma Ballard had with their most entirely Iesuited friend Mendoza and the sequell also of Fa Southwells defence or excuse This haue we related not to accuse the Iesuits directly with this plot of Babington and his confederates but onely to shew you that lesse was said thereof in the Important considerations then might haue beene if the author had vttered those matters of malice against the Iesuits as Fa Parsons affirmeth Some thing further might be said heereof concerning Fa Weston that worthy wight his inward acquaintance and familiarity with Ma Babington that sommer â—hat he was executed But thereof wee will be silent at this time neyther would I now haue made any mention of 〈◊〉 but that I finde our common aduersaries to be acquainted with it Now are we come to Sir William Stanlyes yeelding vp of Dauentry condemned in the Important considerations as a cause also of exasperating our Prince and state against Cath at home Father Parsons after his accustomed manner carpeth at his knighthood giuen by Sir William Drury in Ireland and not by the Earle of Leister in Flaunders which being a by-matter from our purpose little importeth being that he receaued that degree by her Maiesties authority and therefore it forced not by whose hands he receaued it And for his holding the towne in the right of her Highnesse
said that neither his holines nor any other competent Iudge euer heard of the coggery preiudice and blasphemy done against the sea Apostolicke and the sacred Maiestie of our Prince not that their imprisonment was either coggery preiudice or blasphemy to her Maiestie but that by their imprisonment his holines could not heare of their preiudiciall dealings against our Prince and state nor of their coggery and blasphemy against the Sea Apostolicke all Princes and Prelats in the world being in a sort abused by such dealings As touching fa Parsons returne into Spaine whether by Mendoza his commendations or not which little importeth we will omit as not much to the purpose All the world by experience seeth that his going thether was not for any good to our country but to procure inuasions and to raise a new bloodie title to the Crowne of England I will note but two circumstances in this fathers discourse of this matter not to be omitted the first is that no letter or message passed for many yeeres together betweene Mendoza and him to wit after the desastrous affaire of Ballard and Babbington By this you see that Letters and messengers were wont to passe between them before this desastrous affaire and so it is very probable that fa Parsons was made acquainted with all those practises wherein Mendoza had dealt concerning Throgmorton Babington by those letters and Messengers The second obseruation is that when Mendoza some yeeres after returned to Madrill there passed great expostulation betweene them two about that affaire of Babbington and some other such matters Wherein the said Embassador had beene thought to haue beene ouer-much ledde by the forward men and their mates Doth not this shew first that Mendoza was a subiect to the Iesuits by some hand or other or else why should Father Parsons a Iesuit expostulate matters with a Duke a Prince an Embassador to so great a King How durst he otherwise haue noted by way of expostulation which sheweth an authority his beeing ouermuch misled by the forward men which insinuateth a dislike or checke for following too much the aduise and directions of such men blaming the manner and circumstances but not directly the matter Doe not these circumstances leaue a suspicion of Fa Parsons consent to that plot though he disliked that Mendoza was ouermuch ledde therein by the forward men See how God will that father Parsons should bewray himselfe An aunswer to the fift Chapter concerning our pretended folly and malignant spirit in obiecting certaine bookes to father Parsons which tend to his commendation and of his confutation of a little Treatise in answer to his booke of Succession NOw are we come at length to the fift chap of bookes obiected to Fa Parsons which he will haue to increase his credite Of these bookes he citeth 4. in number vrged by vs to wit Philopater the ward word the high counsell of Reformation or Memoriall as hee termeth it and the booke of Titles or succession to the Crowne These hee nameth but leaueth out the scurrilous pamphlets of Perneus and Greene coate or Leisters common-wealth with such other of that rabble full of exasperations against the Queen state and very scandalous as conteyning infamous slaunders against both and in particuler against some of the counsell which could not but giue occasion to incense them beeing in power and authoritie against all Catholicks and priests in England And all England knoweth that the booke against the Earle of Leister did mightily auert him from all Catholicks in generall But it is a true saying which often I haue heard spoken of father Parsons that hee will rather lose his friend then his iest it is verified in all his proceedings For if once he apprehend a course he wil thorow with it though all the world smart for it of so violent and pernicious and head-strong a nature he is But to come to the bookes which by himselfe are cited Of the two first viz. Philopater and the Ward-word he saith no more but that they be in defence of the Catholicke cause the first against the rigorous Edict the second against a bloody-minded Knight As for the first it is full of most bitter rayling arrogant exasperations as euery man that hath read it can tell besides foolish scoffings against great persons which no man of wisedome and charitie would haue vsed in these times vnlesse he had meant to whet a double edged sword to cut Catholicks throats The second was a fond and foolish reuiuing of a dead matter not worth a rush no man either thinking or regarding the follies of such a pamphlet But by his raking againe in the old forgotten dunghill he hath raised vp such new stirres and drawne such persons into the matter that as euery man may see the dead matter is now new on foote and aliue againe and in a more hurtfull sort then before Let him see what the Deane of Exceter Ma. Doctor Sutcliffe hath written in aunswer of his Wardword and iudge whether the wound be not worse then before The Knights obscure toy no man regarded but I dare not say so of Ma. Doctor Sutcliffs booke And this was the wisedom of this good Fa in aunswering the Watchword needes he must haue his iest though it cost him deere As touching his third pamphlet of Reformation it is a world to see the pride of the man to take vpon him to meddle with all estates and giue rules and directions what must be done as well in the Court as Country Clergie as Laïty And when forsooth must this be done Mary when our Country is reduced againe to Catholicke religion But when or how must that be doe you know Presently forsooth by a Spanish conquest For you must vnderstand that this worke was hatched about the same time or immediatly after the booke of Titles if not before so that you see the booke of Succession was for the conquest and this for Reformation to follow What simplicity was it for a man of wit or vnderstanding to thinke that after a Spanish conquest hee should haue the managing of matters for our Country to prescribe orders lawes as though the Spaniard would haue deliuered all matters into Father Parsons hand and hee must haue beene Lycurgus to direct all Alas poore man or rather mad man how great a conceit soeuer you haue of your selfe and how much so euer you presume of your greatnes with the Spaniard you must giue me leaue to thinke that when that time had come as God forbid it euer should Ma. Spaniard would haue as little regard to Fa Parsons in those affaires as to any of vs. I will omit his fond supposall of easie reformation because both our Clergie and Catholickes hauing liued in persecution all this time would willingly concurre to a holy and perfect reformation as who would say that all difficulty in that point should remaine in the priests and Catholickes of our owne nation and not rather in the
the conditions of security to be giuen vnto the Queene concerning her person and state which they perhaps are vnwilling to be drawne vnto considering thereby all their plots and practises should be cut of Neyther happily wil the State trust them in whom it hath found such trecherie by reason of their mutuall bond wherein they are all tyed to follow the direction of Fa Parsons the Archeplotter of state practises against our Prince and Countrey And to proue this part concerning the Iesuits affection towards toleration Fa Parsons their ring-leader and square to the rest openly in Rome before the Scholers as diuers will testifie against him made a long speech against toleration of Religion in England in that as he said Cath thereby would grow cold and lose their feruencie they had got by persecution See whether the motion of toleration was like to proceede from these me◠and yet he insinuateth some motiue vnto her Maiestie and the Counsell to deale with him or his party because forsooth we being deuided as he sayth haue little credite By this also indirectly you may perceaue his minde to toleration in Religion or any benefit to Cath seeing he disgraceth to his power such as deale for their good when he knoweth that her Maiestie and Counsell will not trust him or any of his faction in whom they haue found so much sedition But to proceede with the rest of this Chapter Fa Parsons would haue you in the beginning wonder at our friends confidence in Cath Countries in that they durst not goe to the Nuncio in Flaunders without a pasport But he might more iustly haue told you that our confidence in him and his fellow Iesuits was such that our friends durst not commit themselues into their hands For if they had so done they had all beene layed fast for euer comming at Rome the Iesuits had so earnestly practised with the Spanish Embassadour against them affirming that they were enemies vnto the King and I know not what In so much that notwithstanding their pasport the Embassador came posting down about them and Fa Baldwine Doct Cesar Clement and others ranne with open mouth against them to the Nuncio whereby one of them as it is knowne had like to haue been taken by a policy if he had been in his Inne His horse was seised on vntill the Nuncio sent for the Gouernour and gaue him a checke Consider then whether they had not cause to feare the Iesuits whose irreligious oppressions our former messengers had once tasted before But more of this wil be sayd in another treatise And as for their telling the Nuncio that they were in feare to come vnto him it was true they said so and gaue their reasons not as fa Parsons setteth them downe but that we had beene oft prouoked by our Archpriest vnto him and threatned with him by these words that he the Archpriest had beaten vs with roddes but the Nuncio would beate vs with scorpions These only were the reasons giuen to the Nuncio which were most true And for the breve and his Commission to end the matter our Messengers vvere content and did referre themselues vnto him Whereupon he writ to the Archpriest to appeare by himselfe or Proctors and the Doctor staied in Paris to meete them But the Archp refused as seemed for he neuer appeared one way or other vntill his two Agents some monthes after went ouer to be his Proctors in Rome who passed indeed by the low countries but what they did there wee know not Onely it vvas said that beeing before the Nuncio they could not deliuer their tale and that the Iesuits were ashamed of them Insomuch that one of the Iesuits of that Country demaunded if the Archpriest had no more sufficient men in England to send about his affaires This was reported whether it be true or no I will not auerre Touching the Breve the Nuncio plainly told our brethren that he had but a Copie thereof and that the Archp had the originall sent him long before marueyling as he said that he had not published it adding further vnto them that they were not bound to take notice thereof sith the Archpriest had not divulged it And whereas Fa Parsons saith that our friends beeing at Doway were exclaimed against by the Rector seniors there it is a manifest vntruth They found nothing but kindnes at their hands For English men of worth abroade I thinke fa Parsons cannot name one that exclaimed against theyr iourney But I am sure that all of reconing haue euer exclaimed against his vnconscionable practises as well lay Gentlemen Nobles as of the Clergie and he can name very few of esteeme of either sorts which haue not complained against him As touching his reports written concerning a toleration vpon condition the Iesuits and Archpriest should be recalled I would it were true And if hee had respect to the common cause he would wish so to but they vse more to regard their priuate interest then any publicke good Concerning the matter of schisme he writeth three vntruthes in three or foure lines First that Lysters Libell was neuer published secondly that soone after it came forth it was recalled by the Archpriest at the attonement Heere are involued two falshoods first that the attonement was soone after the divulging of that Libell there beeing a full yeere betwixt them secondly that then it was recalled which is a lie for hee promised onely the matter should neuer be vrged and that the Treatise should die but he neuer performed eyther of those conditions Thirdly that it could not be said to infame any which is an impudent assertion aboue 30. de facto being defamed by it and so held and practised against thereupon besides an hundreth at the least of neuters fauourers whom it concerned But to leaue these apparant vntruthes his best refuges let vs come at length to Card Sega his Catalogue or Memoriall alleaged against the scholers of Rome Fa Parsons noteth the causes of those tumults in Rome to haue been raised vppon the same causes against the same persons that these heere in England haue beene and therein we yeeld hee saith truly And for the persons to wit the Iesuits wee agree with him that as they were the men impugned by them there so are they also by vs heere Touching the cause also which he ascribeth to liberty and freedome from subiection as such liberty and freedome excludeth tyranny oppressions vniust insultations of the Iesuits wee likewise graunt it but as he maliciously cōmenteth vpon it with hatred of order discipline and superioritie we say and will conuince him that hee speaketh of malice and against his knowledge For hee cannot denie but that the scholers in Rome excepting iustly against theyr violent tyrannie and oppressions offered notwithstanding to admit of all the bonds and rules whereto any of themselues were bound by their order their vowes excepted and to tye themselues to the obseruance thereof during their
vniust and vncharitable iniuries vexations wrought thereby may not very vnfitly be applied to himselfe For the deuill where he commeth is alwaies busie thrusting the party on to mischiefe and the greater more mischiefe a man doth the more doe we suppose the deuill to be busie with him Now hee that shall consider fa Parsons continuall contentions from the beginning with all men euen of his owne order as hath beene shewed as also his mighty and great attempts in matters of state whereby hath risen great vexations of innocent Catholicks his detestable diffamations not onely of our poore scholers in Rome but also of our whole nation in them his setting of our quiet Cleargie together by the eares a worke proper to the deuill with infinite wrongs to particuler men may tell me at leysure whether the parable of the vncleane spirit seauen more returning might not be retorted vpon himselfe But we rather wish his reformation then any such oppressions of seauen spirits as vncharitably he chargeth vs with His speech of S. Hillary proficit semper c. might also be returned to the manifesting of his owne follies daily more more in that notwithstanding the euidencie of our cause proued by vs and still by him reproued he still opposeth him selfe which in the end will prooue wilful indiscretion Also his often commending of himselfe and vrging of his owne good deedes and benefits done to vs argueth no great wisedome Sure I am that many of vs neither euer saw or tasted of his great bounty but many haue felt the smart of his exorbitant actions But to passe ouer this trifling induced thereunto by his example in the progresse of his discourse hee canuaseth an humble and good religious peticion of Ma. Watsons wherin hee desireth charitable remembrance of his poore sinfull soule in such sort as he sheweth very little charity or religion rather scoffing at the speech with words of disdaine as sinfull sudds c then otherwise And when hee commeth to his person he bewrayeth no small enuie and gall by describing him with such disdaine so falsly also as all men that know him may see that it seemeth it grieued him that hee vvas made a man and within the number of reasonable creatures Afterward and conformable heereunto doth he goe about to taxe his minde an higher enuy then the former with a vaine bragge and proude assertion of the Iesuits in generall as men of contrary life spirit iudgement will workes and manners to him by a sequell as it were involuing suspicions as vsually the Iesuits doe of I know not what imaginations of disorderly life most falsly and most vncharitably But let fa Parsons temper this kinde of suspicious and vncharitable writing or wee will promise him we will open such matters of his holy bretheren as shall make both him and them ashamed thereof Yet are wee not willing to rippe vp the liues of any knowing that the infirmities of euery Christian should rather be pittied and relieued by prayer then reioyced at or reuealed as the Iesuits vse to doe in what they can by all that oppose theyr proceedings discrediting the persons of those whose cause they cannot infringe which is a tricke rather of a Machiuilian then a good Christian This course wee haue hetherto auoyded as all men can witnes neuer entring into the particuler liues of any Iesuit or fauourite of theirs and wee wish not to be vrged vnto it against our wills by such kinde of dealings least happily fa Parsons and all his company repent that they euer prouoked vs therevnto After his vncharitable descriptions of his body mind he falleth to flat railing against him calling him a lost ladde the staine of his religion and order permitted by God and vsed by the deuill and the like vncharitable stuffe with no lesse vncharitable surmises of his peace made with my L. of London as though it had beene for some trechery or other All which calumniations discouer enuie malice without reason For it is well knowne by such as dealt for him that his peace was made vpon honest conditions and most lawfull and that he stoode both nice and scrupulous about the admittance of the offer at the first which argueth that it was neither sought by himselfe nor accepted vpon any base or vnlawfull conditions Besides it is well knowne that since his comming in and his peace made hee hath done much good as well to diuers in particuler yea and some of the Iesuits friends who little deserued it at his hands if hee had respected persons or sought to requite wrongs as also to the good of all the Catholicks in generall And whereas father Parsons noteth out of Cominaeus that in time of sedition the worst men grow fastest who in a quiet state should not be respected it seemeth to be a great touch of his owne credite who as wee haue noted before neuer loued in his life to be out of factions and garboyles raysing and maintayning tumults in all places in the world amongst English Catholicks wheresoeuer hee came and continuallie tempering in our English affayres as well against our prince state and whole country as our Clergie Colledges both which he and his haue tossed and turmoiled from time to time with such seditious plots practises and garboyles that it is a world to consider his busie working humor in these affaires By which meanes chiefely hee hath made himselfe famous and infamous to the world See how well father Parsons hath profited by his example out of Cominaeus For Ma. Watson all men know that he hath been in very great esteem amongst Catholicks abroade before these troubles more then now he is by reason of the Iesuits good words against him calling him into suspicion and iealousie of trechery in respect of his supposed peace made with the state which argueth that he hath not so much growne by trouble or factions as indeede Fa Parsons hath done After all this to shew more his particuler malice against him hee runneth backe vnto his first going beyond the seas and his comming to Rhemes whether comming as hee sayth a poore begging boy he was taken in of charity and his first allowance was for a good time pottage onely and licking the dishes which other men had emptied before and afterwards was admitted to serue at the Table and carry away dishes and then to make beds and such other offices in which kinde hee serued one Ma Boast a Priest c. All this he spitteth out against Ma. Watson wherein you may note a particuler malice against the man as he shewed before in the Apologie against Ma. Doct. Bagshawe For you must note that those alwayes that most stand in this Fathers way on them he layeth loade as if all his powers were recollected to wreake his teene as the saying is or worke reuenge But this kinde of fashion will sooner discouer his malice amongst wise men then procure him credite in his raylings For if
in the world It is also false that he saith we iest at familiaritie with God frequent meditation c. but reproue that vanity in such fond Priscillianists as will arrogate vnto themselues such priuiledges and prerogatiues of illuminations familiarities and I know not what to the contempt of the seculer Clergy as Tertullian did after hee fell to be a Montanist vsing the very same text of Scripture against the Catholicks and Clergy then which father Parsons now vseth against vs and to the same effect to wit animalis homo non percipit quae sunt spiritus dei calling the catholicke Clergy carnall men because they reproued such fond illustrations and illuminations in theyr two Prophetesses Priscilla and Maximilla whom father Parsons doth herein resemble After this in the 87 and 88 page he reciteth a taxation of the Iesuits in the aforesaid Sparing discouerie for theyr politicall deuises and Machiauilian rules as also for theyr slaundering the iustice of our Country For the first poynt theyr deuises politicall Machiauillian practises whether out of generall rule of theyr order common to all which I belieue not or out of particuler prescripts to some of thē by themselues onely for better compassing of theyr designements they are sufficiently demonstrated by theyr actions true effects of such deuises and manifest proofes thereof both in this reply as also in all other discourses written of late Wherin you may see with what slights cunnings and policies they first practised in Wisbich then in Rome amongst the scholers and lastly in these late affaires heere for the erecting and maintaining of an Archpriest by deceit and force amongst vs. Concerning the second poynt it is not affirmed generally of all the proceedings of our state which we goe not about to defend as euen in the Important considerations you may see but of some euident facts both notorious manifest which they haue gone about to deny and colour accusing both the Queene and state therein most falsly As both in Fa Southwells supplication you may partly see and also in other bookes writ by them by theyr continuall rumors buzzed abroad both in other countries and here in our owne also at home as all men know Which slaunders beeing in things apparant and by open confession acknowledged as that of the Duke of Norfolke Parry Throgmorton Babbington and his complices Heskot Squire and the like haue done much harme and auerted the state very much from Catholicks And another thing which followeth in the same page of the Iesuits ordinary practise in equiuocating when they haue beene examined is so manifest and notorious as in very deede almost euery ordinary officer vnder her Maiestie hauing been acquainted with examining of them are so vvell acquainted therewith as ordinarily they will vrge thē therewith yea and commonly say that they know not when to giue credite to theyr aunswers making all the exceptions of such equiuocating they can and this poynt they best know that haue come vnder theyr fingers and haue beene vrged therewith by them But I haue already said something of this poynt concerning theyr common practise heerein by the testimonie of a reuerend priest conuersing vvith one of them In the next page he denieth that Cardinall Borromaeus put them out of his Seminaries in Milan which is a thing so euident as the Bishop of Cassana if he were aliue would iustifie the same and there be others yet aliue that know the same also to be true In the same page also he sayeth we scoffe at spirituall exercises which is most false as you may see if you reade ouer the pages by him cited for onely their practises in such spirituall exercises whereby they make gaine and tye men I know not with what vowes vnto themselues are vtterly disliked not the thing it selfe if it be well performed and sincerely for the profit of the soule exercised and not to other reprouable respects as we know they haue vsed them And wee see such as they haue once had vnder theyr hands in those exercises heere in England especially women became so reformed thereby as they grow to proud and peremptory humours taking vppon them as Prophetesses and Doctresses to censure Priests and exclaime against them in open assemblies a vertuous effect of a spirituall exercise And of these I could name two notorious to all men in this kinde the one a maried Gentlewoman the other a mayde In the next page 89. Fa Parsons waxeth cholerick in his owne behalfe being toucht indeede to the quicke with words of fierie darts hellish hatred serpentine tongues mad and possessed men c. which he so fiercely thundreth out as if he were Iupiter Altitonans himselfe and yet he sayth that in all our writings you shall finde no one poynt of moment alleadged by vs against him If this be so I would faine know of him why he is so cholerick And why he taketh the matter so heauily to the hart If the matters concerne him not what skilleth it what rage or anger is shewed against him For if the matters be of no moment they will discouer themselues and then Ma Parsons may rest patient and not so much distemper himselfe with such outrages A little more heate would verily haue driuen him into a burning feauer Certes his passions shew he was prickt and for triall thereof whether the matters obiected in our wrytings against him be of no moment I referre you to the euidences of facts and proofes cleerely set downe both in this reply and the former bookes themselues If happily you will retort the choler of some of our wryters in like manner to proue them guilty you must know that the case is altred For heere Fa. Parsons sheweth his choler in his owne particuler defence which is both vnseemely and a note of touch but our friends if happily hote words haue passed them which wee wish had not done it is not in their own personall quarrell but in a common cause of the whole Clergie and to be maintayned by all in regard of the whole and not of any particuler And therefore no such retorture can iustly be made vnlesse by the same reason you will condemne S. Hillary wryting against Constans in the common cause of Gods Church with many bitter inuectiues and S. Hierome against Vigilantius in the like manner But hee which shewed so much choler in his owne defence shewed little lesse pride in the lynes following where hee compareth himselfe with Christ by the words onely appropriated to him by Simeon to wit that he was to be in signū cui contradicetur Also he draweth in Atheists Heretikes Apostataes seditious contentious tumultuous desastrous and dissolute to be inueighers against him as though he were the only innocent and pillar of truth against whom all such people did inueigh and that all those who did contradict him were Atheists Heretikes Apostataes seditious or the like A proud arrogant and contemptuous speech For it is well knowne that the best of
Watson page 312 that the King of Polonia is defeated of the kingdome of Swethland onely by the Iesuits trecherous ambitious and tampering aspires whereas Ma. Watson onely sayth that this defeating was occasioned by their ambitious tampering aspires c. which was a generall report viz. that theyr incroaching vppon the Swethlanders beeing sent thether to preach made them to driue them all out of theyr Country Whereupon the King by theyr suggestions making warre against the Swethlanders to reduce them by the sword they chose his vncle Duke Charles for theyr King and so defeated him of his inheritance If this relation be not true as it was for certainty auerred to be true take it as a relation of newes only blame the first Author Hee denieth also in the same paragraffe that euer hee writ Letter to the Earle of Huntley in Scotland But for that hee may aske Ma. Mush now in Rome I verily thinke he can tell him something thereof He also noteth for a forgerie in the same paragraffe that Ma. Watson saith hee sent a Iesuit to the Earle of Essex for his taking a pension of the king of Spaine Indeede I thinke Ma. Watson might mistake in naming him a Iesuit but Roules and Stanley had commission from him to deale with the said Earle in that behalfe they are both in the Tower about the practise of Squire and haue confessed the same as I haue beene informed In the same § also hee noteth for a calumniation that Ma. Middleton was cusened by him of 300. pound If it be an vntruth Ma. Middleton is too blame from whom as I vnderstand the information came Twelfthly he bringeth in diuers things affirmed by Maister Watson out of his Memorial alias his High counsel of Reformation most of which things by him cited I haue heard reported by reuerend priests that haue seene and read the worke and one of them vnto whom he shewed it within his twelue-months in Rome Somewhat more particulerly we haue spoken of this before After all these collections out of the Quodlibets vvhich you see to be either false or not of any moment hee falleth into inuectiues running againe to prophecies and predictions page 113. where he also affirmeth and saith it cannot be denied that Priests and Iesuits ioyning all together at the beginning of the Seminaries both at Doway Rhemes and Rome did set our cause first on foote haue promoted the same euer since with conioyned labours c. Before in the fourth chapter you haue heard fa Parsons say that no English Iesuit was in place or credite when some matters were in action against our Country as that of Stukley Doctor Saunders and others onely to excuse them in those practises now heere hee saith that the Iesuits ioyned theyr labours with Doctor Allen Doctor Saunders Doctor Stapleton Doctor Bristow Doctor Webbe and many others at the beginning of the Seminaries both at Doway Rhemes Rome and other places to set on foote our cause I would aske him if they cōcurred with Doctor Saunders in promoting the cause of our Country wherein was it if not in the Irish affaires sith hee dealt in no other for our coūtry Before in the fourth chapter hee denieth it stoutly beeing pressed therewith oportet mendacem esse memorem God will still haue him to bewray himselfe Againe if as in the fourth chapter hee sayd no English Iesuit was then in place or credite how did they then ioyne at the beginning of the Seminaries of these men for our common cause I am sure no Iesuite entred the haruest of our Country for some yeeres after the missions of Priests not vntill two yeeres after the erection of the Romaine Seminarie which was some yeeres after the beginning of the Seminary at Doway If hee say that the Iesuits of other Nations ioyned theyr helpes in this action then say I by the same assertion that in ioyning with Doctor Saunders they concurred to the Irish attempts which was the onely affaire for our country or rather against our country in which hee dealt and then I haue what I intended to wit a proofe that the Iesuits haue dealt in all actions against our Country almost from the beginning After this hee entreth into a discourse about the erection of the Archpriest the writing of the Treatise of schisme neyther of which he sayth was a sufficient cause to make these garboyles in such a time and place But to this I aunswer that both beeing the most vniust actions that could be the one in preiudice of the whole Clergy intruding a superior without suffiicient warrant to tyrannize ouer vs as hee did which is sufficiently shewed almost in all our discourses the other in preiudice of our fames and credits in the highest degree as is aboundantly proued and dare not be maintained by any Iesuit be he neuer so audacious how could we do lesse then defend our rights standing onely vpon iustice And iudge whether the offence were in vs of these scandals standing but in the defence of iustice as now all men see or in them that most iniuriously against all law conscience charity and equity maintained the same against vs as Ma. Doctor Ely proueth in his aunswer to the Apologie In the end of this chapter and of this booke hee maketh his conclusion with the same charity he began and hath hetherto prosecuted the same in comparing vs to Luther and other hereticks and that all we haue done hath beene vpon ambition liberty of life promises and obligation to my Lord of London which he saith wee hold out in spe contra spem against the remorse of our owne consciences These are his charitable speeches which in part we could retort and more iustly vpon himselfe but wee hartily pray almighty God to giue him more light of conscience that he may see what an abhominable thing it is in the sight of GOD to maintaine iniustice and impiety vnder the cloake and maske of religion and piety least otherwise hee pay summam mensuram delicti one day for the manifold afflictions and miseries hee hath brought vppon our afflicted church and the infinite wrongs and iniuries that he and his haue done against so many well deseruing men of our English Clergy And thus I will end this reply submitting both my selfe and it vnto the censure of Christes holy spouse the Catholicke Church vnder whose banner I fight protesting that if any thing herein contained be in the least iote contrary or dissonant to the Catholicke doctrine as I verily hope there is not I will be ready hereafter to reforme it DEO GRATIAS A Table of the passionate and vncharitable words and sentences vsed by Fa Parsons in his Libell of Manifestation as well against our persons as our actions and proceedings with the Chapter and leafe noted where you may see them The preface is an inuectiue discourse vpon enuie which he applieth in his booke vnto vs with other reuiling speeches as sal infatuatus infatuated
whose secret actions priuate workings tended vnto the subuersion of the Prince and Countrey or Magistrate and Citty and that this being vnknowne to the Prince or Magistrate affection would not suffer them to see their owne danger and the danger of their Countrey Common-wealth or Citty it were not only lawfull for me to disclose the particuler actions of the said party though priuate thereby to giue occasion vnto the Prince or Magistrate to be more vigilant vnto themselues and their estates and more obseruant of the aforesaid dangerous person but also an act of allegeance to my Prince and of loue vnto my Country vnto which euery man is bounde in duty and conscience So in our case if any particuler actions of the Iesuits be discouered they are but matters of proceedings with particuler men that thereby you might learne by particularities and matters of lesse moment to conceiue the better what how dangerous their practises be in matters of greater waight and how theyr proceedings hold one and the selfe-same course both in particuler and generall affaires in matter of lesse and greater moment And this so long as we obserue truth in our relations is both lawfull and necessary as the case now standeth with the Iesuits and their actions in England and we are free both from the note of detractors in reuealing theyr exorbitant proceedings penalties thereby incurred The like cannot be said in theyr behalfe for defaming of vs. For they haue not onely vniustly and vntruly detracted from our good names and credits in these matters of our proceedings as all the world now seeth but also entred into our particuler liues most falsly going about to touch therein our good names which no way is excusable in that if any such thing had beene true in any of vs yet could it not beeing a secret infirmitie haue tended to any generall hurt of any whole body or common-wealth but onely to a particuler hurt of a mans selfe which by no law of conscience could be reuealed by them Neither haue wee done so by them though I thinke no man will recken them all saints But those secret diffamations proceeded doubtlesse of a machiauilian ground and not of iustice or charitie Now let vs come at length vnto the booke of Important considerations at which our deere Father spitteth no lesse then fire with words of folly frensie fury mutinie warre and defiance parasiticall pernicious erroneous hereticall wicked reprochfull trayterous ridiculous impious base and wickedly minded proctors for hereticks accusers against persecuted Catholicks transformed with passion enuy malice sold our tongues to the cōmon enemy vnited in wicked attempts contemptible to all Catholicks of discretion the like Certes this good mans zeale was great when in his heate of choler hee vttered so many fierie and passionate speeches But yet I must needs craue pardon at his hands to runne ouer this matter a new and request his patience that wee may examine the booke againe and see whether it deserue so mightie blame as hee maketh shew of Belieue me if it doe we will cancell it and blot out his date but if it proue otherwise hee must be content to let it passe with a more fauourable interpretation and not wrest matters into worse sence then euer the Authors intended In the very first entrance into this booke I wish you to note a cunning falshood of this Father in the relating of the title of this booke which he setteth downe thus Important considerations to mooue all true Catholicks that are not wholy Iesuited to acknowledge all the proceedings of the state of England against Catholicks since it excluded the Romaine faith and fell to heresie to haue beene not onely iust but also mild and mercifull c. In this altered title which is not verbatim with the title of the booke Fa Parsons sheweth himselfe not a little first in foysting in of the world all before proceedings thereby to take aduantage of euery petty matter that hath happened perhaps sometimes by the knauery of some Pursuiuant or other odd fellow without commission or warrant as also in adding with a Parenthesis since it excluded the Romane fayth and fell to heresie therby to make the matter shew more hatefull and haynous Whereas in very deede as euery man may see that list to read ouer the Treatise the intention is not to excuse or iustifie euery particuler action of the state as the action may be in it selfe considered without further respect then to that particuler bare action For who will or can iustifie or excuse the killing of a priest as a priest or confiscating or hanging of a Cath as a Cath meerely for religion This I say is not intended in that booke as all the world may see for therein is lamented the hard course taken as well against Priests as Catholicks neither for ought I see doth the state make shew of persecution quo ad vitam et necem for matter meerely of religion and conscience but vppon pretence of treason or attempts against her Maiesties person or state or at the least vpon the feare thereof Now then all the end and scope of this booke is none other then this to excuse the state from such generall imputation of infamie layd vpon it especially by the Iesuits who haue been the chiefest causers of those vehement afflictions as though the state without all cause or shew of cause had made lawes against innocent men and there-vpon persecuted them vnto death no true occasion of exasperation hauing euer been giuen from any such person eyther to prince or state To take away I say this vnderserued infamie this treatise was written of purpose to lay the fault truly where indeede really it hath beene humbly desiring at the feete of our Soueraigne that we being innocent in such actions may not sustaine the burden of their offences but may obtaine so much fauour in her gratious sight as to be numbred amongst her loyall subiects and those that hate such vnnaturall and euer accursed practises least otherwise we be inforced to say lamenting our case with the Prophet patres nostri peccauerunt et non sunt et nos inquitates eorum portamus This I say is the whole scope and intention of this worke and therefore doth the author giue reasons by particuler mens actions and vndiscreete attempts as well by writings as practises that the state hath had iust cause to feare when it perceaued such dealings and there-vpon was moued to prouide by lawes and premunitions against the like afterwards And if by these lawes and prouisions it happened that innocent men sometimes were wronged as in all generall lawes it happeneth sometimes yet was not the state all causes first giuen considered so much to be condemned nay rather it was to be excused in that it is most certaine that it hath not proceeded with that rigor vpon such causes giuen as otherwise it might haue done to the extirpation of all such persons from
whom or from whose degree such actions proceeded And I would but aske Fa Parsons because I know him to be a great statist this one question whether in his conscience he doe think there be any Prince in the world be he neuer so catholicke that should haue within his dominions a kind of people amongst whom diuers times he should discouer matters of treason and practises against his person and state whether he would permit those kind of people to liue within his dominions if he could be otherwise rid of them and whether hee would not make straight Lawes and execute them seuerely against such offenders yea and all of that company and quality rather then he would remaine in any danger of such secret practises and plots I thinke Fa Parsons will not for shame denie this especially if he remember the examples of the French religious men for the like practises expelled England generally in a Cath time and by a Cath Prince and theyr lyuings confiscate and giuen away to others The like was of the Templars both in England and Fraunce Yea to come neerer vnto him was not all their order expelled Fraunce for such matters and yet the King and state of Fraunce free from imputation of iniustice in that action If these things proceeded from Cath Princes iustly against whole Communities or orders of Religion vppon such causes wee cannot much blame our Prince and state being of a different Religion to make sharpe lawes against vs and execute the same finding no lesse occasion thereof in some of our profession then the fore-said Princes did in other religious persons whom they punished as you see But you will say that there is no reason that the innocent should be condemned for another mans fault if some one Cath or Priest were faulty in this kind all were not so how then can the actions of the state against such be iustifiable To this I aunswer that you cannot think that euery particuler French Monke was guilty of treason in that Kings dayes when all were expelled nor is it like that all the Templers were so irreligious as some of them were neither doe I think that all the Iesuits were accessarie or consenting vnto their practises in Fraunce yet all you see payd for the delict of some Princes are iealous and haue cause so to be there depending so much vpon their safety as there doth When therefore they find trecherie in any Communitie they will be sure to prouide for the worst and rather extirpate that Cōmunitie then liue in feare thereof Doth it not so happen alwayes when the Gouernours or Magistrates of a Cittie counite or concurre vnto any treason doth not the Cittie presently lose all her priuiledges and the Prince seaze vpon the same and take all into his owne hands gouernment suppressing the whole state of the Cittie for the faults of a few onely vvhat meruaile then if this hath happened in our case where there hath been such difference in religion And then iudge whether we that haue beene innocent in such practises as GOD and our conscience can witnes and yet haue felt the smart of such proceedings haue not great cause to cleere our selues to exclaime against such as will neuer leaue to irritate our Prince and state and to make known vnto her Maiestie and our state the innocencie both of vs of our ghostly children who haue beene pressed with the burden of afflictions by reason of such vndutifull attempts in some few vnrestrained persons most humbly crauing at her sacred hands some redresse for such miseries that the stroke may light where the offence hath been giuen and not henceforth vpon the necks of poore innocents If there be any offence in vs towards her Maiestie or her proceedings it is onely in matters of religion which beeing a thing not onely proceeding of mans will but by a light from God informing first the vnderstanding and then the will and therfore not to be altered or disposed as other indifferent actions or conceits may be wee hope may and will be more excusable in her gracious sight But for matters of practising against her person crowne or state that is a thing onely proceeding from a peruerse and passionate will the vnderstanding still remayning sui iuris able to discerne ad vtrum libet eyther of the cōueniencies or mischiefs of such affaires which no way can be excusable Now whereas some woorthy men are touched with such vndutifull proceedings in the afore-said Treatise you must vnderstand that thereby the persons of the men are not condemned but rather theyr facts or they onely in those facts yet worthy men in themselues And you must vnderstand that good men yea Saints haue had their errors as these proceedings in these woorthy men must be acknowledged neither may we approue such errors because the Authors of them were Saints No man approueth the defence of rebaptization in Saint Cyprian because S. Cyprian is a Martyr and yet whilst hee liued he defended the same very earnestly practised it with great contention against other Bishops Dauids fact of murthering Vrias must not be excused because he was secundum cor Dei and now a Saint no no passions and errours haue raigned in Saints whilst they were vpon the earth yea euen amongst the Apostles and disciples of Christ whilst he was with them Therefore let no man be scandalized that good men and worthy persons are condemned in some particuler facts sith no man liueth on earth without error But you will say it is commaunded in the Law non reuelabis turpitudinem patris tui the two sonnes of Noe were cursed of God for reuealing and laughing at theyr fathers nakednes therefore we should rather haue buried such defects of our worthy parents in perpetuall obliuion vnder ground then haue published them thus to the world Alas I would to God it had beene in our power to haue hid these things without the mischiefes before expressed belieue vs assuredly the world then should neuer haue had knowledge of them but it was not in our power their facts were so publique to the world better known vnto our state then to our selues But it will still be said if such men of worth and great vertue dealt in such matters why should wee so much exclaime against the Iesuits Is their fault so haynous therein aboue the others To this I aunswer that the Iesuits faults are much more as you also will confesse if you cōsider all circumstances well For first what was done by these worthy men was done almost in the first heate of change of Religion wherin both more passion might mooue and greater hopes of recouery of religion stirre them vp to such attempts Besides their hopes of sincere dealing in such as should haue concurred in those actions meerely for religion not of ambition might draw them on to follow such deuises For as then the ambitious intentions of the Spaniards were not discouered vnto them which