and the blasphemy to be left unto their judging and they give two reasons for it The one is that when in the offence there is the principall and the accessory the principall draweth the other unto it but in hereticall blasphemies suspition of Heresie being the principall and belonging to the Inquisition the blasphemy also ought to belong unto it which is but the accessory The other is because it seemeth too cruell to them to have one offence punished with two sentences and doe alledge the common saying that there are not two Iudgements allowed against the same fault but these oppositions are easily answered The first because that suppose the suspition of Heresie were the principall which thing St. Thomas doth not allow yet neverthelesse it is not necessary that it should draw the blasphemy along with it since they are not so connexed together that they may not be severed and that one may not have judiciall knowledge of the one without knowledge of the other but the Secular may very well admit the Persons and examine him that is accused concerning the injurious words uttered against the Divine Majesty without going any further to examine what is his beliefe and what hee beareth in his minde Therefore there is no such connexion betweene the blasphemy and the enquiring of the Heresie but that they may be separated and each judged in the right and competent Court The like is to be said when holy and Divine words are had in derision as in transformed Psalmes in which the Secular takes notice onely of the injury done to God leaving it to the Inquisition to seeke whether it may thereby be supposed that the offender hath a perverse beliefe And in the offences done against holy Images with wounds and other stroakes it is a great deale plainer seeing that the Magistrate punisheth nothing but that externall act whereby Christ hath bin injuried in his Image leaving it to the Inquisition to search whether the offender have sinned because hee beleeveth some false Doctrine or onely through wilfull malice And to this purpose it is good to consider that Hereticall blasphemy is not the same as a sincere or cruell blasphemy most cruell is that which is most grievous and most abusive Most Hereticall that whence groweth the greatest suspicion of Heresie though in himselfe not so great The Inquisition regardeth the greatest suspicion which carrieth with it the greatest signification of there being an errour in the mind though in it selfe it were not so abusive and for this cause sometimes will make more matter of words spoken against Saints than against the divine Majesty The greatest punishment the Inquisition inflicts upon a blasphemer is Abjuration which punishment if it bee on a person of low degree may be said to be no punishment at all And therefore because offences of such importance should not passe unpunished with scandall and evill example the publicke determination that the Magistrate should punish the blasphemy and leave to the Inquisition the matters of Heresie is both just and necessary But that which seemeth absurd to some vid. that two Judgments should bee made in one cause is not inconvenient when the punishments which are inflicted are not of the same kind and the end of the wrongs is different the same Cause may be judged as civill and afterwards as criminall The end of a civill Judgment is to give every owne his owne the end of the criminall is to punish the Usurper So in cases of Blasphemy the end of the Inquisition is if the blasphemer have a false beleefe to teach him the true and absolve him from the censures he hath incurred by holding of the false The end of the Magistrate is no other but to punish the injury done to the divine Majesty The punishments which the Inquisition imposeth are spirituall as Abjurations Absolutions or Advisements The punishment which the Magistrate inflicts are corporall yea it may be said moreover that they doe not make two judgments in one Cause but in two severall Causes the Magistrate judging the offence of Blasphemy and punishing it with corporall punishment whereas the Inquisition forgoing the offence judgeth of the quality of the suspicion and punisheth it with spirituall punishment The Exposition of the two and twentieth Chapter THe two and twentieth Chapter mentioneth that some Inquisitors to extend their jurisdiction pretended that the offence of having two Wives did belong to their Office who doe alledge for reason that it is an abuse of Matrimony which is a Sacrament and that in Spaine the case is reserved to the Office of the Inquisition Contrary is the common Opinion of Civilians who seeing the the Lawes have imposed no punishment on this offence and the Canon Lawes doe not speake of it they conclude by necessary consequence that it belongeth to the Secular jurisdiction and this is observed in all Tribunals also in the state of Milan where the Inquisition hath more extended her Authority than in any other place of Italy the reason brought to the contrary that it is an abuse of the Sacrament of Matrimony concluded nothing for the first Wife taken in true matrimony hath the Sacrament annexed to it and in this there happeneth no abuse at all Then in taking of the second there is no Sacrament nor Matrimony nor any manner of Spirituall contract but a meere nullity done de facto non de jure so that there cannot be said to be any abuse of the Sacrament neither in the first nor in the second act Well may it be said that by the second wicked act of taking another Wife there is an injury done to the first which was a Sacrament and this is most true but the injury done to the Sacrament of Matrimony doth not belong to the Inquisition for adultery is an injury done to the Sacrament and yet it doth not belong to the Inquisition to judge of it And if any one would make having of two Wives a token of Heresie inferring that hee that doth it beleeves it to bee lawfull with this reason hee might draw all cases to the Inquisition for it may as well be said that the adulterer or the thiefe doe commit those wickednesses beleeving that they are lawfull things and amongst the rest wee should put into the Inquisition all Gipsies who get their life by stealing and much more your high-way robbers But contrariwise wee must alwayes suppose that every sinner hath a true beliefe and Catholicke Doctrine but doth sin either through frailty or through malice or through humane compassion and so ought to bee punished by his ordinary Iudge which ought also to bee observed in him that hath two Wives if there appeare no other token of a perverse beliefe And it is not true that in Spaine the case is absolutely reserved to the Inquisition yea it is ordinarily punished by the Secular by branding in the fore-head with a hot Iron But because the Iewes and Moores hold plurality of Wives to bee lawfull those
in the yeare 1595. in the Index published a rule that all Catholicke Writers Bookes written after the yeare 1515 might be corrected and amended not onely by taking away what is not conformable to the Doctrine of Rome but also with adding to it This Precept hath beene put in practice and executed continually these seventy yeares though it hath beene done publickly but some few yeares since So that if in Authors wee finde no good Doctrine favouring Temporall authority wee know who hath taken it away If wee finde any that favoureth the Ecclesiasticall we know who hath put it in and finally we may be assured to have no booke true Wherefore since the onely aime is to extinguish or corrupt those Bookes by which onely well minded men might receive necessary instruction The Secular Magistrate ought also to be circumspected and not suffer himselfe under faigned pretexts to bee deprived of more than heretofore hee hath beene and when new mention is made of prohibiting any booke which treateth not of Articles of Beliefe to informe himselfe well of the Doctrine which it containes and of the ends for which the Court of Rome would forbid it before he gives his consent And if any good and famous Authors Booke should be new Printed to see that the good Maximes be not taken out or new ones inserted contrary to the Authors intention Yea publicke service justice and honesty would require that good Maximes should bee printed againe and that those Bookes which have beene corrected by taking away or altering things favouring Temporall Authority given by God should againe be restored according to the first and uncorrupted Coppies according to the Authors meaning And because by new prohibitions sent out under hand the force of the agreement may not be deluded or diminished when the Index of the yeare 1595. is printed the agreement also should be printed at the end of it Taking notice of the prohibiting of Bookes is not onely necessary to prevent the extinguishing of good Doctrine in Italy which beginneth now to be done but also because that under the pretence of good the Inquisition may not usurpe that authority which doth not belong to it forbidding of Bookes which though they be evill yet have nothing to doe with Religion which is the second prejudice The Ecclesiasticals have declared unto us that they prohibit books for eleven causes of which there be five that doe in no wise belong unto them The first of them is when the Booke containeth any thing against his neighbouts reputation especially Ecclesiasticall Persons or Princes The second if it containes any thing against Ecclesiasticall liberty immunity and jurisdiction The third if with politick propositions of ancient Princes or Historians they favour tyranny The fourth if the Booke containes conceites or quippes against any ones reputation The fifth if they containe lasciviousnesses and other things against honesty There is no question but those Bookes wherein such absurdnesses are found ought to be condemned but every one may not doe it it were breeding a confusion in the World if every one who knoweth an order to be good might Decree it That belongeth to publicke authority which onely can make a Law upon that which belongeth to her Government He that is zealous and seeth the evill which is in a booke let him procure the suppressing of it and hee doe well by his authority that may lawfully doe it The diligence in seeking out and discovering of an evill is commendable but to goe about to remedy it when it doth not belong unto him is usurpation and ambition If by a booke the neighbours reputation bee touched though he bee an Ecclesiasticall man it belongeth not to the Inquisition to right it That Office is against Heresie and is not to protect any mans reputation The Secular power is protector of mens honours and he is to defend it and to punish any one that doth wrong it with deeds words or writings Let the Inquisition be carefull that by bookes there is no Doctrine sowne against the Faith and God hath provided a Magistrate to give a remedy if by deeds words or bookes any mans reputation is wronged If Ecclesiasticall Persons doe see any injury done to themselves or to others it is just that they may crave the Magistrates helpe and expect amends through him If any thing bee written against Ecclesiasticall liberty and immunity because it is enjoyed by priviledge from the Princes it belongeth to the Prince to maintaine it to them as farre as the publicke Service will permit it were not good that every priviledged Person might out of his owne power defend his priviledges Would God there were Bookes which might deserve prohibition for being against Ecclesiasticall liberty rather than Bookes that doe deserve it for extending it so farre as it doth confound all government It usurpeth and taketh away that which belongeth to the Secular and shameth Christs Ministery which is for Celestiall things and not to become masters of Terrestriall committed by God unto others It is not a lesser but a greater evill to extend Ecclesiasticall liberty so farre as it may become irregular then to restraine it more than it ought to bee What is the cause that no booke is censured Because it vaunts it too much and taketh away the temporall The best way to maintaine it is not to prohibite those bookes which keepes it within the bounds but rather those which doe make it hideous for the absurdnesse of it wherefore it ought not to bee denyed but if any one should write in this behalfe contrary to truth the Magistrate ought to proceed against the author and the booke and observe the decency and authority due to the Ecclesiasticall order but it is not just that they should right themselves If politicke things be written according to the maximes of Princes and ancient Historiographers according to all mens opinions it belongeth not to the Ecclesiasticall to judge of them if they be tirannicall that belongeth onely to Princes to whom is proper the Government of States Private men doe not understand it and much lesse the Ministers of Christ to whom is severely forbidden to entermeddle in it and if any one will goe further hee must not thinke to remedy it with his owne authority but to signifie it to him to whom it belongs to helpe it As it is also most plaine that those who desire to have an unresistioned liberty doe give the name of Tiranny to the lawfull power given by God to that Doctrine which opposeth it self to their attempts so that under pretence of Religion they will become arbitrators of all Governments The same is to be said of bookes containing conceites or biting quippes which directly or indirectly doe offend in any one and if they doe teach ill manners laciviousnesse surfeits which offend the publicke dignity none of these excesses is Heresie that they should belong to the Inquisition The Inquisitor is made a Iudge of the beleefe and not a censurer of
manners By St. Pauls Doctrine publicke quiet and honour are given into the custody of Secular power the Inquisition ought not to put her sickle into another mans harvest This conclusion needs no subtilnesse to make it bee understood of it selfe it is plaine and easie To the same man belongeth to judge and punish deeds words and writings of the same matter none can make question but that the offending of ones reputation favouring of Tiranny and dishonesty either with deeds or with words are offences subject to the Secular Iudgement Therefore those which are committed in writing also shall belong to the same By what reason can he pretend to censure the bookes of any of the foresaid causes who confesseth of himselfe to have no power to censure the words and the deeds Since that by the Princes Ministers such a disorder is put in practise vid. that under pretence of favroring honesty and Iustice and preserving a good name temporall authority comes to bee usurped peradventure because it is a very new thing that the Ecclesiasticall power should prohibite bookes for any other cause besides that of Religion since no Pope ever attempted it before the yeare 1550. therefore as a fresh thing it hath not yet beene well examined or because that some who give attendance upon publicke affaires thinke it not ill to discharge themselves of this burthen of looking over bookes and leave it to them as desire it But as every Government requires watchfulnesse and carefulnesse and he that discharges himselfe of these dispoileth himselfe also of his authority and doth not perceive it till it be lost and cannot be recovered againe so the most renowned Common-wealth which hath ordered that her Officers should over-see every booke which is Printed to prevent any inconvenient Doctrine from comming to light hath knowne very well that this care belongeth to the Prince and thence is necessarily inferred that his Deputies ought also to see whether that there be any inconveniences in bookes already printed which may hinder the reprinting of them To the same Person belongeth the preventing of evill to whom the reforming of an evill already sprung belongeth If the Prince may Lawfully by the authority he hath from God forbid the printing of a booke because it containes blasphemy against the God-head favoureth Tiranny offends publicke honesty teacheth evill manners or takes away another mans authority and reputation Hee may also Lawfully and by the same authority prohibit them that are already printed and doe containe the like inconveniences The Index of the bookes made in the yeare 1595. is already received with publicke authority by agreement therefore the bookes contained in it are to be prohibited without exception But if hereafter it be propounded by Ecclesiasticall Persons to have bookes prohibite for any of the aforesaid reasons it must not be granted that they should doe it but notice may be taken and the booke prohibited by Temporall authority onely leaving it to the Ecclesiasticall power onely when the booke is prohibited for cause of Religion There remaines the third prejudice which is new but of greater annoyance than the other two because that to bee deprived of ones authority and to lose good bookes are indeede very great evils but tollerable in respect of this to be constrained to endure within their owne Dominions a booke knowne to bee hurtfull The Court of Rome though it hath assumed to itselfe to prohibite bookes also for causes which concerned not Religion and did not belong to Ecclesiasticall power yet before these last yeares they have not dared to goe so farre as to say that the Prince may not also forbid those bookes which he seeth doe breede scandall evill example sedition or other perturbance within his Dominion Cardinal Baronius would be the first that should free this passe and speake it boldly who being conveniently opposed by that Prince who was particularly touched none ever since hath dared to this houre to maintaine the Cardinall his enterprize But because hereafter some may attempt the like with greater Art or upon an opportunity when mens eyes shall not be so open the businesse being of such moment requireth to have the successe of that businesse briefly set downe for a generall example and document adding thereunto the true Doctrine with her Grounds answering the objected cavillations That Cardinall in the beginning of the yeare 1605. printed his eleventh Tome of the Ecclesiasticall Annals wherein hee inserted a very long discourse against the Monarchie of Sicily Of which discourse what concerneth the Truth of the relation is not fitting now to be spoken of but to be left to his proper place This onely belongeth to the present purpose that the discourse is full of slanders and eagernesse against many Kings of Arragon of famous memory and especially against King Ferdinand the Catholicke and the progenitors on the Fathers side of him who now Reigneth The booke comming to Naples and to Milan was by the Kings Officers there prohibited that it should not be sold nor had there for the respects of their Prince which were too apparent to every vulgar person The Cardinall having notice of it assembled the Colledge of Cardinals in the vacancy of the Sea of Clement the eight and made an invictive against those Officers that in prohibiting of that booke had laid hands on Ecclesiasticall authority And afterwards when Paul the fifth was made Pope he writ unto the King of Spaine a long Letter dated the 13. of June in the same yeare with this conclufion amongst the rest That to the Pope onely belongeth the approving of bookes of all kinds much more Ecclesiasticall ones complaining greatly that in contempt of Ecclesiasticall authority the Kings Officers in Italy had prohibited his booke The wisedome of that King thought it best to answer with deeds and let the prohibition runne on which was published by his Officers The Cardinall could not containe himselfe but that printing his 12. Tome in the yeare 1607. he must insert to small purpose a discourse of the same matter saying formally that it was an impious and abhominable thing that in these our most unfortunate dayes the Kings Officers should dare to censure bookes approved by the Pope not suffering them to bee sold by the Booke-sellers but with their Licence which they would grant but when they pleased yea and would absolutely forbid the sale of them that they doe it because the bookes rebuke their unjust acts and that it was to take out of St. Peters hands and putting into the Princes one of the Keyes given him by Christ vid. that of knowledge to discerne good customes from bad The Counsell of Spaine proceeded still with their wonted staidnesse and resolution nor did not move for the third time but let three yeares more run on And in the yeare 1610. the King made an Edict whereby hee condemned and forbad the booke in so grave a manner that hee aptly touched Cardinall Baronius as well as he had touched the Kings his Progenitors
the judgement place shall bee before him to whom the Defendant is subject But where there is no private interest but a publicke respect the Person is not looked after but the cause and though the Person bee Secular yet if the Cause bee Ecclesiasticall the Ecclesiasticall Iudge shall judge it So in these daies Matrimoniall Causes are esteemed to be Ecclesiasticall and therefore though the Person bee Secular yet are the Causes Iudged by the Bishops So Causes that are purely Secular as the administration of publicke Offices Causes of plenty of health offences which trouble the publicke rest doe belong unto the Secular power although the Persons bee Ecclesiasticall If the offence be mixt there is a mixt Magistrate instituted to whom without attending the quality of the Person belongeth to judge all matters of that kind And because that Heresie doth corrupt true Christian Doctrine it is an Ecclesiasticall offence and because it disturbeth the publicke rest it is Secular therefore there is a mixt Iudgement Seate appointed with an Ecclesiasticall judge and a Secular Assistant And in the practice of it there is no repect had of the questioned Person for then the Ecclesiasticall should Iudge the Priests and the Friars and the Magistrate should Iudge Secular men But the Heresie of the Secular man is as much against the Catholicke Doctrine as that of a Clarke and a Hereticke Priest or Frier troubleth the publicke Government as much or peradventure more than a Secular one And as the Secular office appoynted concerning Corporall health and if it finde an Ecclesiastical person bringing in of infected goods he doth not put over the judgemēt tothe Ecclesiastical judge but burneth the goods packeth away the suspected person because the publick temporall good is in uestion so the mixt office of the Inquisition doth not put over an Eclesiasticall Person but judgeth it because that the publicke good both spirituall and temporall is treated of And this is further confirmed because that though offences committed by Regular Friers are punished by their owne superiours yet they cannot entermeddle in cases of Heresie but goe to the Inquisition without regarding that the person is a regular It is yet made more manifest in that that cases of Heresie being more against Ecclesiasticall Persons than Secular ones in the agreements made with the Apostolicall Sea especially in the yeare 1551. they of Rome would have made that exception which being not made shewes that they have not held the generall Rule vid. that the Secular should meete in all cases This ninth Chapter besides that the justice of it requires the keeping of it ought also for divers other respects with all diligence be put in execution First because we have shewed above how necessary it is to a good government to have the Prince know of all occurences that happen in such matters for the great importance of maintaining Religion But if the Assistant should not meet at judgements against Ecclesiasticall Persons and these are the most important most dangerous and most frequent then the state of Religion within his Dominion should not be knowne which would be most absurd Secondly seldome happeneth a case of Heresie in an Ecclesiasticall person but a Secular is a confederate in it in which case one would not know what to doe for to divide the Contents of the cause it is impossible to leave a Secular person to a judgement meerely Ecclesiasticall is more unfitting There remaines nothing then but to have it judged before the ordinary mixed Tribunal and questionlesse if this way were once given under divers colours of annexed connexed dependent and emergent the Secular would be altogether excluded Therefore according to reason the most wise determination of the Senate named in this Chapter ought to be observed For proofe of the second part vid. that the Assistants shall bee present at the framing of Processes though the Denunciations be given in other places we must suppose the stile of that office to be approved by continuall custome and also by reason For if a person be denounced at the Tribunall of the Inquisition who hath his dwelling in another place and that he be not personally under that jurisdiction the Inquisior receives the Denuntiation examines the Witnesses and frames the Processe as farre as may be done in that place and so framed he sendeth it to the Inquisitor of the place where the delinquent liveth that the cause may be prosecuted and he dispatched It happened in the Yeare 1610. that Father Avaroldo a Capuchine was denounced at Rome for a certain opinion concerning Antichrist and from that Inquisition was the Processe sent to Brescia where the Father was The Inquisition of Brescia proceeded in the cause without the Assistance and answered the Governours who hearing the event did finde themselves agrieved with it that the Governours ought not to assist but onely in causes which were begun at the proper Tribunal but not when the Denunciation was given at Rome If this were admitted it would not onely be against reason and the lawfull custome but it would also be a secret to take away quite and with ease the Assistance The Inquisitors to take away that bond of having Assistants to increase their owne authority and to doe the better service to the Court of Rome would worke with the Denouncers under faire and appearing colours that the Denuntiation should not be given into that office but at Rome which would be easie being content to doe it either by Letter or Petition and in this manner in all causes the Secular should bee excluded But the legall definition is that as every office or Inquisition receives Denuntiations against the absent according to their owne Rites Formes and Customes so the proper office frames the Processe and gives sentence according to his It was needfull to take notice of this particular for feare least any deceived with shewes should be carried away to a publicke prejudice it being to be held for an infallible rule that the publicke representant must assist to every act done in that office without any exception The Exposition of the tenth Chapter THe tenth Chapter that the Representants shall assist at all the Acts of the Processe is necessary for the taking away of divers abuses which are brought in for in some places all the informative Processe was made without any assistance in others the whole defensive and in others after the denuntiation received by the Inquisitor alone and the Governours were called to the examination of witnesses All which wayes were prejudiciall since things once done are alleadged by example and so they goe on from the first to the second and in processe of time a custome is established which afterwards hath the force of Law But that which is of no lesse moment is that it being the Assistants charge to give the Prince notice of all occurrences and to protect the Subject if he were oppressed by the Ecclesiasticall he can doe neither the one nor the other without
he know the whole Processe The least particular altereth the whole cause neither can a businesse be explained or understood unlesse all the circumstances be knowne The Exposition of the eleventh Chapter IN the eleventh Chapter is said that for the aforesaid Reasons they ought not to leave out any act under pretence of slightnesse for there is nothing be it never so small that may not bee the cause either of absolving or condemning And it is added that they must not be content although the Inquisitor aske him leave because that though the principall who ought to be present at an act may give way that it may be made without his presence Yet hee that is to be present in another mans stead cannot doe so It cannot bee denyed but that it would be a great deale more ease for Rulers especially being occupyed in many businesses which the government of a City brings with it to be present at the Inquisition or absent when they would but no jurisdiction is maintained without labour The Court of Rome in these affaires because the Inquisition businesse should not be carelessely handled by reason of extraordinary employments hath given it to persons that have nothing else to doe and for their lownesse hold it as a great honour to exercise the place The Prince whom it most concernes to have matters of Religion well governed thought more decent to employ eminent Persons therein and such as he may trust and therefore he expecteth care out of the faithfulnesse of his Representants though they be employed in other affaires The Exposition of the twelfth Chapter THe twelfth Chapter unfolds the manner and remedy that must be used in case an act were made against the due forme and that is by setting businesses againe into their first estate with such pleasing remedies as shall be requisite The Exposition of the thirteenth Chapter THe thirteenth Chapter which treates of Informative Processes which are to be sent into other places is no lesse to be considered of and requires an exquisite diligence for Inquisitors sometimes at the request and for the interest of their superiours make some secret Processes against the reputation of good men examining such as they are confident of who for the most part are evill persons giving them out for sincere ones and men without exception and upon them Processes are likewise in other places secret sentences framed to take away the reputation of them that are questioned and sometimes to doe them further wrong In the yeare 1590. by reason that some subjects of St. Marke went into France to the warre against the League Fryer Albert da Lugo Inquisitor of Verona framed such a Processe against the most renowned Common-wealth it selfe as if it favoured Hereticks examining persons of very ill quality and knowne to him to be such yet in the end of the Processe hee much commended them to make their credits good The good Father could not send it whither he intended but was discovered and punished as the qualities of the times would suffer though not so much as he deserved In these last troubles in the yeare 1606. there were many framed against Senators and publicke Representants and other persons which truely is a great abuse in that office which should never swerve from sincerity And the greater the abuse is the more ought the Representants to be wary and not suffer any Processe to bee made neither at the request nor command of any in their absence and when they discover any attempt to shew themselves touched by it in such sort as it may be a barre to any such actions and also give good heede to all the Inquisitors proceedings to discover and hinder them The Exposition of the foureteenth Chapter THe foureteenth Chapter to labour that in every Processe should be noted the Assistance hath no difficulty in it because as it is said before the Bishop of Ravello the Apostolicall Nuntio in the yeare 1551. did write it to all the offices of Inquisition in the State The Exposition of the fifteenth Chapter THe fifteenth Chapter that in the Processe there shall be no Decrees inserted by any forraigne authority ought to bee exquisitely observed For most part of the Inquisitions out of this State are reduced to such a forme of proceeding that the Inquisitors doe every foote write to Rome and from thence receive orders what they shall doe so that at last it is as good as if the Processe were framed at Rome and so they free themselves of the bond imposed upon them by the Canon Law to consult of their affaires In this State they have not yet attempted this frequent and subtle abuse but onely in some particular case to favour or disfavour some one It may be thought they write to Rome for Justice or for some good intent whence they receive orders of what they will have done and the Inquisitors to curry favour with a ready obedience put it to execution and they themselves will sometimes to avoyde some contradictions of the Bishops Vicar or some Councellors procure Letters from Rome and by that meanes overcome the oppositions This produceth two evill effects the one that it taketh away the authority of that Tribunal making it subject to him to whom by reason it ought not to be The other that he who is questioned is at more trouble and more cost in defending himselfe The most excellent Senate hath alwayes endeavoured that the authority of their Inquisition office should not be diminished being as requisite for a good government as any other publicke ordinance In Rome the Inquisition was not above that of other places but applyed it selfe onely to that City as others did in their Cities The Pope indeed was superintendent and overseer of them all maintaining neverthelesse the agreements immunities and lawfull customes of every one and so it continued untill Paul the third who did institute a Congregation of Cardinals in Rome giving them the Title of Inquisitors Generall who neverthelesse doe not command the Inquisition of Spaine which by agreement was first instituted So likewise they ought not to take away the authority of this States Inquisition also instituted by agreement some hundred yeares since Which thing I have considered for to conclude that it is not reasonable that Inquisition should take that which belongeth unto this And in effect if the Romish Inquisition should meddle with those causes which are handled within this state as it doth in other places it would be as much as to reduce them all to Rome And to speake in plaine and restrained tearmes as by Law every act which the Inquisitors make without the Assistance are voyd so those Acts cannot be of force which are made out of the State being made without the presence of the Assistants And if those Cardinals should be sent by the Pope as Inquisitors into this State they would not be suffered to doe any thing without the Magistrates presence and that which were so done would be voyd much lesse
plaine that the office of the Inquisition within this dominion was appoynted by order of the greater Councell and by consent of the Pope in the yeare 1289. with Covenants then established Wherefore no new thing which hath happened since can alter it if the same who agreed in the institution doe not likewise agree in the alteration And therefore if the Court of Rome decrees any new thing concerning that matter it cannot extend its force upon that Office but onely with the Prince his consent This is the true reason why Bulls and Orders made since that time at Rome cannot binde Neither can it be aleadged to the contrary that diverse times doe require divers Orders and that Popes for the better government have made other reasonable Lawes which ought to be received for the answer to this plaine that as in the world nothing can bee held unchangeable and every custome ought to be accommodated to the times and persons so it is to be done to them whom in reason it concernes to doe it and by no others If any one would rule common businesse of himselfe though he did doe it with a good intent and happy issue yet did he neverthelesse transgresse Divine and Humane Lawes the same reason which caused the Inquisition to be first instituted by agreement doth now also suffer no new Laws or orders to be made but by agreement To give force unto a Law it is not sufficient that it be convenient and reasonable but it is also essentiall that it be made by those who have full power Neither is that said onely for the preservation of power and jurisdiction but also for the necessity of a good government The Inquisition was not then instituted with the same Conditions as in the rest of Italy because the considerations of this Common-wealth and other States were different So now likewise divers considerations cause that which is expedient at Rome sometimes not to bee expedient here Wherefore it may not be convenient presently to execute in this state that which the Pope for his owne respects hath ordered but first ought to be considered whether it agree with the respects of this place which thing none but the Prince can doe as one who alone knoweth what is needfull for the publicke affaires And therefore although the new or old Bull should seeme unto the Governour honest and profitable yet ought not he therein to follow his owne judgement it being proper to the Prince alone to know what is expedient Neither ought it to seeme grievous to the Bishops or Inquisitors to have that which is just and lawfull executed in due manner judgement and forme The Inquisition of Spaine which is likewise ordained by agreement proceedes in the selfe same manner It hath its owne Lawes and proper Customes by which it is governed neither is it altered or receiveth new Orders from Rome but if for any publicke respects the Court beleeveth that it were good to bring up some new thing in Spaine they write to the Generall Royall Counsell over the Inquisition where it is consulted of and according as the respects of Spaine will beare it is received either in part or in all or in part or in all laid aside But that the observance of this Chapter is necessary not onely for the maintaining of the proper Power and jurisdiction but also to withstand infinite inconveniences hee may finde it plainly that shall consider these things following First speaking of Bulls already made many are contrary to the Institutions of this most renowned Common-wealth as those that command Hereticks to be burned openly and alive The confiscation of goods with censures to those Princes who doe not admit of them The demolishing of a house where a Heretick is found although it be none of his owne That the Inquisition may cause any that it suspecteth to give it a pecuniary security to live a good Catholicke That the Inquisition have an armed Court properly belonging to that office All these are Pontificiall Ordinances contrary to the Customes of this State some doe give Inquisitors excessive authority as those which will have them have power to give leave to weare Armes and to make Crocesegnati which things could not bee put in practice without great confusion some are so severe that they cannot agree with the government of this State as that of Paul the fourth which will not have him pardoned his life that will come home againe having held any one of those five Articles which by him are named And another of Pio the fifth that no sentence given in the behalfe of one that was accused and found innocent should transire in rem Iudicatam although it were given after the Canonicall purgation but that the Office may alwayes take the same cause in hand againe upon the same proofes which order if it were in use would bee a continuall torment to those wretches And that other of the same Pope that whosoever should offend or but onely threaten a Notary or other Officer of the Inquisition or a Witnesse examined in that Office besides the Excommunication should be guilty of High Treason and should be punished with Capitall punishment his goods confiscated his children infamous and uncapable to succeede others by will To which punishment should also be subject whosoever should not onely case one to escape out of Prison but he also that should but attempt it although the effect did not follow and also whosoever should favour any such or mediate for them with other clauses of most cruell temerity comprehending also titular Persons and Princes Yet this is that Bull which was made in the yeare 1569. but was never received nor published in this State The Cardinall Arrigoni eight and forty yeares after that vid. in the yeare 1617. commanded the Inquisition of this City of Venice that it should print it and publish it and it had beene done if the most renowned Reformators of those times by order of the most excellent Counsell had not hindered it Any one may consider how many Processes might be made for every word that should be spoken to one of the notaries witnesses or denouncers who had thought themselves wronged and how many wretches would have bin daily vexed It were long to rehearse all those things which are contrary to the customes of these Countries but the above said are sufficient to shew that without the disturbance of the publicke authority and peace they cannot be all generally admitted But if any be necessary or profitable for the punishment of Hereticks it is fitting that it should be received but to know which is such a one belongeth properly to the prince nor can any one else know it Neither ought any one to be confident that they may bee received without confusion because they are of force in Rome and yet things there are quietly carryed the State of Rome being different from that of other Princes The Romans say they are above these Ordinances if they thinke fit they
which doe make no account of it which both put together doe make a great number On the other side let us behold how easily some are brought to obedience through a spirituall feare Since God then hath given the Prince these two meanes to cause him to bee obeyed vid. for feare of temporall punishments and for conscience sake for so St. Paul teacheth it were a great losse to forgoe the second of these meanes which is not least necessary with letting the contrary bee spread abroad contrary to Catholicke Doctrine Recapitulating then the heads gathered in this matter of bookes they will be ten The first that those which are contained in the Index of the yeare 1595. what cause soever they are prohibited for the Princes consent having bin to it are alwayes to be held for such The second that for the time to come no prohibition bee suffered what clause soever there be in it although it bee with censure if it be not admitted by publicke authority as it was agreed The third that if the Ecclesiasticall shall desire the publicke consent for prohibition of bookes which treate of matters of Faith so they containe 〈…〉 their proposition being verified shall be agreed unto The fourth that heede shall be alwayes taken that under pretence of Religion Christian Doctrine be not forbidden which defends temporall authority The fifth that it shall not bee granted to the Inquisitor to prohibit bookes for any other cause but onely of Heresie but if any behad for any other respects it shall be prohibited by the Magistrate The sixt that books printed elsewhere though approved by any one else by what authority soever if they be hurtfull to the Common-wealth they shall bee prohibited by the Secular Magistrate or by a publick Edict according to the occasion The seventh that in the printing againe of bookes heed be taken that those things be not taken away which favour temporall power The eight that if any of those that are gelded in which the Doctrine maintaining temporall power is taken out be new printed they shall be printed againe according to the old Coppies The ninth that if the Index of the yeare 1595 be new printed care be taken that no new names be inserted The tenth that together with the same Index the agreement be printed There remaines another poynt to be briefly touched in this matter which is not of so great importance and yet such as of it selfe merits some consideration Which is that the prohibition not being used with due moderation is hurtfull to the sale of bookes and to the Art of printing for if a booke be printed which hath bin seene by the Inquisitor and the Bishop and by them approved yet if at Rome any thing be found though of small moment not against Religion for in such a matter nothing can be of small moment but against somewhat touching the Court which the Inquisitor hath not entred into who granted the Licence They prohibit the booke to his losse who caused the booke to be printed and is in no fault having the Inquisitors approbation and this disorder is frequent and would be more frequent if they did not feare that upon the Booke-sellers complaints Princes would give eare unto it for every Courtier to get credit sheweth himselfe carefull in marking the prejudices of the Court and also the shadowes of them not onely in bookes printed out of Italy but in them also which are approved by the Inquisition and even in them which are printed in Rome it selfe It were just that if any thing were found contrary to Religion in a booke printed with approbation the charges should be paid by him that hath approved it since the Booke-seller is not in fault But if any thing bee found which for its owne proper respects is displeasing to the Court it seemeth not reasonable that a prohibition should be granted which seemeth also to be so resolved on by the agreement of the yeare 1595. when it saith that for the time to come no bookes be prohibited but forraigne ones or printed without Licence or with false Licence although such words might be cavilled upon because they have made no exception of Religion but the agreement beeing Construed in this Sence cannot chuse but bee Commended The Exposition of the 30. and 31. Chapters THe thirtieth and one and thirtieth Chapters which speake of Secular Arts and of Artificers faults can never bee too exactly observed Every well ordered Common-wealth when some cruell kinde of offence ariseth doth make a Magistrate a purpose to take notice of that onely that the care of other things may not divert him For this cause in the Christian Common-wealth was the office of the Inquisition appointed which should tend onely to the rooting out of Heresie It is most naturall for every one who hath the universall jurisdiction to put over many things to him that hath the particular jurisdiction or suffer him to usurpe it and it useth to be easily done because of the great power that is given him and because that he who hath the universall jurisdiction employed in many businesses sometimes doth not give heede and sometimes if he he not a man of good knowledge thinkes that it is a helping of him so that he doth not onely not withstand the inconvenience but doth favour it A cause not belonging to him that hath the particular jurisdiction being once taken serves for example to take it the second time and from divers times a Custome is framed which afterwards serves for a Law and cannot be taken away without many difficulties and the universall jurisdiction comes to be diminished and the way is opened to the disturbing of the government By these wayes and occasions the Inquisitors against Heresie have not onely strived to draw divers other causes to their Office but also to appropriate unto themselves the government of the trade of Bookes and to command divers others alleadging therefore two kindes of reasons The one is that they doe not command any new thing and that which without their command ought to bee done for if they doe enjoyne the Butcher that he shall not sell flesh in Lent hee is bound without that to not sell it so that the command ement is an admonishing them of their duties So likewise they say that they doe not cause such persons to sweare any thing but what they are bound to doe For if they cause Booke-sellers to sweare that they will not sell prohibited Books they are already tyde to doe it so there is nothing done but to adde a greater provocation to performe their owne duties But this reason is cavillous it being one thing to warne one of his duty and another to command it him The Preacher and the Confessor doe admonish without usurping others authority because they impose no penalty nor use any meanes to make them obey this is onely a teaching which is not joyned with constraining That commanding which carryeth in consequence a revenge against the disobeyer