whence proceeds that terrible fright we are observ'd to be in for some time past We see coming towards us that Scourge which now Afflicts Santonge and Poitou We understand well enough they will not open a Persecution in all places at once this would make too great a noise But when they have laid these two Provinces desolate they will pass into another They scatter and lay wast all our Congregations in one end of the Kingdom and in the other tell us we shall be dealt with better far than we imagine that we are to blame to take the Alarm and ought not to think of leaving the Kingdom That is that we are a File of Wretched men mark'd out for death while those at the one end of the File are Hang'd or Shot to death those at the other end are spoken fair to and made drink to amuse them that they run not away but may when the rest are dispatch'd be Hang'd as the others They began with this poor Province of Poitou because it is bounded on one side by the Sea and on the other side borders on all the Provinces of France so that the wretched Inhabitants have no way to escape out of the Kingdom And it is certain those who will permit themselves to be surpriz'd and neglect the opportunity of getting into a place of safety will one day dearly pay for their Imprudence and Security Hug. Gent. Your Reflections have interrupted me in the Course of my story I have many things more to acquaint you with which will give you further Light into the Character of this Persecutor who Ravages Poitou He spreads and causes it to be spread abroad every where with inconceivable boldness that 't is the King's intention there shall be but one Religion in his Kingdom If any one chance to say any thing to the contrary what Religion soever he is of he is punish'd for 't It happen'd that three Roman-Catholicks said the King had not declar'd himself as fully in this particular as 't was reported he had they were all three Imprison'd for it A Man of the Religion having taken an occasion to raâ—ly these Conversions made for Money and having said the King was too wise to be at great expence to carry on an Action so base as that of Bribing People out of their Religion was Imprison'd and Condemn'd to go bare-head and bare-foot with a lighted Torch in his hand through the Street follow'd by the Executioner to the Court of Justice to beg Pardon for his fault But I have one thing more to tell you by which you may better know what a Person he is I am speaking of He went to Dinner at the Marquess of Verac's a Gentleman of note in the Province While they were at Dinner the Intendant gave Order the Inhabitants of the place should assemble at the Cross After Dinner he took his Coach got up on the streps of the Cross and said to the Peasants assembled Children you are to know 't is the King's intention there shall be henceforth but one Religion in France Turn Catholicks Whoever does so shall have cause upon all occasions to praise the King's Bounty Those who refuse shall experience his Severity To prove what I say see here your Lord the Marquess of Verac come along with me to change his Religion Whereupon the Marquess who is a very honest man and a very good Protestant stepping up immediately to the same Cross said to the Peasants Children The Intendant does but jest with you The King has no design to revoke his Edicts And it is not true that I am come along with him or have any design to change my Religion Hug. Law This is surprizing and sufficient of it self to make out the Character of the Man I cannot tell Sir what you think of these Conversions of Poitou But as for me I confess that assuming the Sentiments of a reasonable Catholick I could not forbear being of the Opinion of Ozorjus Bishop of the Algarues That nothing is more opposite to the Spirit of Christianity than a Conduct of this Nature that exposes so many Mysteries and holy things to men suspected and evidently prophane Can you choose but tremble Sir to think that at this day in Poitou thousands of those who are forc'd to go to Mass and prostrate themselves before that which you call Our Lord detest and look upon that as an Idol which they pretend to adore When they are sick they bring them the holy Oyl and make them take the Sacrament after your manner They obey with their bodies the Violence us'd but they think very Prophanely of those things you esteem so Holy 'T is in your Opinion an enormous Crime these Wretches commit yet 't is your Zealous Catholicks are the Cause of these horrible Prophanations of your Mysteries When Violence is us'd to force men to Lock up in the bottom of their Hearts their sentiments of Religion it produces the effect of that Violent and inconsiderate Zeal of Emmanuel the second King of Portugal who compell'd the Jews to turn Christians as I told you The Jews profess'd themselves Christians but continued Jews in their Hearts Their Children inherited their Dissimulation and Religion Hence it is that half those Portuguese who to avoid the Inquisition are Christians in Portugal no sooner set foot in Holland but they are Jews Those Hugonots who have been forc'd to turn Roman-Catholicks will inspire into their Children their Religion and the disquiet of their Spirit These Sentiments will be transmitted from Generation to Generation as a Seed of Rebellion that will always incline this People to shake off the Yoke impos'd on their Conscience as Soon as they have opportunity So that by the Course now taken instead of gaining Servants to God you raise Enemies to the State And I had reason to say that by the Method now us'd for Conversion you will make you a Church of Rogues and Villains of Atheistical and Prophane Rascals destitute both of Religion and Honour Conversion at this day is a Cloak to cover Debauches and the most abominable Enormities Let the most infamous of men profess himself a Catholick he is presently become a right honest man That Church which claims the title of Holy as proper to it self opens her Gates to Bankrupts and Cheats and exhorts men to become Bankrupts by turning Roman-Catholicks which is a sure Means of Pardon and Oblivion for all Sins and in a word a Salve for all Sores a Remedy for all Evils Hug. Gent. Give me leave to tell you a little story not impertinent to the Purpose which I had the other day from an Officer You know 't is now every ones business to make Converts 'T is the imployment of Gentlemen and Officers of War as well as of the Bigots A Souldier of the Garrison of Friburg having committed a considerable Robbery was imprison'd for it He had wit enough to know it would go very hard with him unless he could find Favour The
Liberties and Laws are too slight a Bulwark to secure Protestant Subjects the exercise of their Religion and enjoyment of their Civil Rights under a Prince of the Romish Perswasion These Persecuted Protestants the daily objects of your Charity are the Successors and Descendants of those of the last Age to whose Loyalty and Valour Henry the fourth of France acknowledged himself much a Debtor for the Diadem of that Kingdom which the Monarch now Regnant there wears with so much Glory and the Catholick Liguers labour'd so vigorously and scandalously to rend away from the Family of Bourbon It was in consideration of that Fidelity and as a Princely Mark of his favour and acceptance of the eminent service they had done him that Prince no less truly than nominally great confirm'd to them the free exercise of their Religion with ample Immunities and Priviledges ratified with all solemnity of Law requisite in such cases All Europe is witness the present Protestants of France have not degenerated from the Loyalty of their Ancestors but have serv'd their Prince with all imaginable Fidelity and Zeal for the Glory of his Crown The World admires the Royal qualities of their Monarch his Conduct proves him a Prince every way great He is particularly fam'd for strictness of Justice and profoundness of Wisdom His Protestant Subjects who are lash'd so severely by the rod of his Authority declare him a person of a generous Temper and sweet Disposition a Man that abhors Cruelty and Violence and is one of the best natur'd Princes under Heaven Rome to her sorrow finds him no Bigot though a Roman Catholick yet the Protestants of France are persecuted with that rigour and extremity they think it a happiness to purchase with the loss of all secular enjoyments the freedom of their Conscience and by a voluntary exile to find in strange Countries that Justice and Peace they cannot have in their own Poor Hugonots What can be a sufficient Guarranty for the exercise of your Religion which Edicts in its favour obtain'd on weighty and just Considerations and ratified with all the solemnity of Law the loyalty of its Professors the merit of your Ancestors the innate goodness and wisdom of your Soveraign cannot secure If Persecution be your Lot under the Reign of a Monarch so Generous and Sagacious so free from Superstition and so full of Heroick Qualities as your Lewis the 14th cease to complain of the Murders and Massacres under Charles the 9th and Henry the 3d and arm your selves with a Christian expectation of greater Sufferings and more fiery tryals of your Patience and Loyalty when it shall be your misfortune to see the French Crown on the head of a weak ill-natur'd or Bigotted Prince Your present King hath bravely defy'd the Thunderbolts of Rome and vigorously attack'd its usurp d Supremacy yet permits you to be rigorously handled what usage must you expect from a Superstitious Soul that will receive the Dictates of the Pope as Oracles of Heaven and hazard Crowns to merit the title of a true Son of the Church in executing Commands the most dishonourable and bloudy the malice of Priests or interest of the Papacy shall impose upon him Impute it singly to the good nature of your King that Fires are not kindled and Gibbets set up to destroy you as in former Ages the malice of your Enemies is not abated and your Religion the cause of your Sufferings is the same as then but your King hath a Soul too noble and tender to command Innocents to be tortur'd and burnt a Spectacle Charles the 9th made his Divertisement and Pleasure How miserable must you be under a Prince that shall delight in your Sufferings and think it not just only but meritorious to extirpate you when you are thus sharply persecuted under so great a Monarch who had the goodness to declare he would willingly sacrifice his right hand for what he calls your Conversion Had your sage and wise Prince so much tenderness for you that he would have sacrific'd the instrument of so many glorious Atchievements the Darling of his noble and ambitious soul for that which conceives your good and yet is impos'd upon by the arts of your Enemies to connive at your ruine and permit his authority to be abus'd to warrant and countenance those Violences and Outrages his Soul abhors and his eyes cannot endure a sight of Preserve as you do your Loyalty to your Soveraign admire his Vertues and extol his Goodness Triumph in the clearness of your Innocence that the Enemies of your Religion own not any cause of your present Persecution but your King's Pleasure that there shall be but one Religion in his Kingdom But lament the unhappiest of his Education in a Religion of Principles so unnatural it would take away that variety God and Nature have unalterably established no less in the Opinions and Judgments than in the Tempers and Faces of Men so tyrannically it would enslave all Mankind to its Tenets though never so absur'd so wildly ambitious it would usurp that Soveraignty God hath reserved to himself over the judgment and conscience and force Men contrary to both to comply with its Superstitions and become Traytors to God by a prophane Hypocrisie that they may appear good Subjects to the Pope by an outward Conformity to his Impositions so irrational it would perswade men to put out their eyes to be guided by it to abjure their Senses and renounce their Reason to be governed by its Dictates Bewail the malice and subtilty of your Enemies that hath perverted your Prince from a Father of his faithful Subjects into a Persecutor of Protestants an Oppressor of the Reformed Church inspired him with a Cruelty it found not in his Nature and surprized him to permit Violences and Outrages to be committed upon you which are no less contrary to his judgment than they are to his goodness But the Moon hath her spots Solomon and Alexander were not free from miscarriages and the sagacious malice of the enemies of Protestants quickly finds out those weaknesses in the Souls of the best Princes they have access to which they impose upon and manage to the prejudice of the Reformed Religion They knew the French King of too good a nature to permit general Massacres or delight in Cruelty exercised on his Subjects they were sensible he is not a Bigot to be perswaded to yield up the Lives of his Subjects to the pleasure of the Pope or the interest of his Church nor so silly to believe the God of the Christians can be pleased as some of the pretended Vicars of Christ have been with slaughter of men They observed so much Justice and Equity in his nature he would be scandalized at a proposal that would have engaged him contrary to Law and without colour of Justice to violate the rights of a loyal and numerous party of his Subjects they apprehended him too sensible of the interest of his Crown to approve of a
Given at Our Court at Windsor the 22d. day of July 1681. In the Three and Thirtieth year of Our Reign By his Majesties Command L. Jenkins To Our Right trusty and Well-beloved Sir Patience Ward Knight Lord Mayor of Our City of London CHARLES R. RIght Trusty and Well-beloved We greet you well Being given to understand that very many Protestants and even whole Families finding themselves under great Pressures and Persecutions in the Kingdom of France for the sake of their Religion have chosen rather to leave their native Country and Conveniences than to hazard the Ruine of their Consciences and therefore great numbers of them are come and more are endeavouring every day to come into this Kingdom for Shelter and Security We are very desirous that here they should not only meet with all kind Reception but also with that Benevolence and Charity which may in some reasonable measure contribute towards their present Relief and Comfort in this their Affliction To which end We have signified Our Pleasure to the Bishop of London requiring him to give Directions unto the Clergy of that Our City and places adjacent to represent the sad Condition of these poor People in their solemn Congregations and also to excite their Parishioners to the free and chearful Relief of their distressed Brethren But as we cannot have too many hands employed in so good a work so We have thought fit to recommend the same unto you also that by your encouragement and endeavour Our good Subjects inhabiting in that Our City may be induced and obliged to a more than ordinary demonstration of their compassion and liberality on this Occasion And so We bid you heartily farewell Given at Our Court at Windsor the 22d. day of July 1681. in the Three and Thirtieth year of Our Reign By his Majesties Command L. Jenkins The Hugonot Gentlemen YOU know without doubt that the King of England proceeded further in our favour declaring all the persecuted Protestants who should come into England Denizens of his Kingdom And that all those who should transport their effects thither in Merchandise should import them Custom-free and whereas the Collection for the French Protestants in England was at first made only in the City and Suburbs of London the King hath commanded it should be made throughout the Kingdom Nor is it England alone opens its arms to receive the distressed Protestants of France They are entertained in all places of Europe The Duke of Hanan hath offer'd to receive four hundred Families Swede and Denmark tho very remote declare themselves ready to embrace the scatter'd Remains of the Protestant Churches of France The Charity of England towards them is very edifying yet I confess I am not equally satisfied with all other Protestants who might afford Refuge to their persecuted Brethren I have seen some of them return'd as Persons in despair from places where they had promised themselves support resolv'd to hazard all and run again into the temptation they had fled from being so scandaliz'd with the cold reception and hard usage they had found that they were ready to hearken to the solicitations of the Missionaries Hug. Law I confess the carriage of some strangers towards our persecuted Protestants appear'd to me quite contrary to the spirit of Christianity And if it continue what will become of so many poor Peasants and Tradesmen who groan at this day in search of the means to have liberty of Conscience What will become of so many eminent Persons who will be oblig'd to quit their Countrey naked and destitute to follow Jesus Christ and can carry nothing with them but their Lives and their Consciences What can be more Lamentable than to see how cold mens Charity and Zeal is 'T is more deplorable than the Persecution What is become of that spirit of our Ancestors that made them have all things common among them That render'd every private Person sensible of the publick Calamity In the beginning of the Reformation if those Protestants who were in peace and safety had done nothing for those who were under Persecution the Light of the Reformation had been long since put out in most places of Germany the Low-Countries and France Hug. Gent. Mens Charity I hope will be awaken'd again to do something for God and themselves For in truth the Compassion the Protestants in safety should express for their afflicted Brethren of France is but a good Office done to themselves There is not a Protestant State Neighbouring on France but is under apprehension of its Arms and hath cause to fear it may one day feel the miseries the Reformed of this Kingdom groan under now Where-ever the King carries his Arms those wicked Councellors who perswade him to ruine our Religion will carry their Counsels and make use of the Fortune of this great Monarch to accomplish their designs This may give them who at present are in safety cause enough to fear they may not always continue so It would become them to merit a Compassion they may one day stand in need of by exercising Compassion towards those who are actually in misery But above all they ought by Works of Mercy and the Exercise of fervent Charity and strict Union among themselves to divert the Wrath of God that threatens them and to endeavour to escape the greatest of Misfortunes the loss of Liberty and oppression of their Consciences I cannot forbear adding that the Children of this World are wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light and that their Zeal not only upbraids but may justly make us asham'd of our coldness 'T is difficult to express the great pains the Roman Catholicks take they spare no cost to make Converts as they call them There are very considerable Funds assign'd for the Maintenance and Encouragement of those they have perswaded to change their Religion The King allows out of his Revenue vast sums for gaining and recompencing these new Converts We have known lewd Women converted big with Bastard Children who had Pensions of four or five hundred Livers allow'd them 'T is a Prodigy to me that we are not willing for the support of poor distressed Protestants to be at that expence they of the other Party are at for perverting of Souls I wish all Protestant States would imitate the principal Towns of the Low Countreys which give Lodging in a manner gratis to all those who fly thither for Refuge besides immunity from Parish-Duties and Charges levyed for the use of the Town and furnish with Money and Goods those that have none till they are in a Condition to subsist by themselves and make great Collections in their Towns for that purpose Hug. Law Though all that could be wish'd is not every where done for those who leave their Countrey to save their Souls yet sufficient is done to make it appear that the Kings Protestant Allyes and Neighbours are much grieved at the ill usage of their Brethren and that disgusted with the present Conduct of
our Ministers in that Point they long for an Occasion to shew their Resentment I cannot imagine upon what account our Ruine can be look'd upon as advantagious to the State I will not trouble you with a repetition of the Reasons we gave the last year to convince the King of our inviolable Fidelity and consequently that he is concern'd to preserve us no less than any other of his Subjects I make no question but you have heard all our Remarks on that Subject Par. Yes Gentlemen I have heard them and think it needless to insist further on that point Time will shew who are in the right you or we Counsels are justified or condemned by the Event Unfortunate Valour is branded for Rashness and fortunate Rashness commended for Valour If the Mischiefs you foretel happen to the State according to your Prediction it will be judg'd you were in the right but if a way be found by fair means and without effusion of Blood to bring you again into the bosom of the Church you will be oblig'd to acknowledg our Conduct not altogether so imprudent as you imagin'd therefore without looking further into the future I will consider only the present and must say I do not see what great cause you have to complain You will find it a hard task to perswade us you are miserably and rigorously dealt with when we see you in full peace enjoy every man his Estate and the fruit of his Labour I will not mince the Matter to you by denying all we can shall be done for destroying your Religion but with exception of your Persons and Estates which shall be spar'd Is not this fair and ought you not to rest satisfi'd Hug. Law Ought we not to rest satisfi'd say you Sure Sir you take us for People whose God is their Belly who believe not a future State but place all their happiness in present enjoyments The Principal is taken from us our Religion and the Liberty of our Consciences and you would have us remain content with the residue And what is that residue you say shall not be meddled with Our Estates and our Persons Are not our Persons meddled with when they exercise a thousand Cruelties and commit infinite Outrages to make us change our Religion when they strip us of all means to live when they reduce us to a necessity of starving or turning by declaring us uncapable of employment and excluding us from all Offices and Professions and from the exercise of all Trades we could get a lively-hood by When Gibbets were set up in every corner to hang us on and Fires kindled for burning us we were allow'd the choice of going to Mass or of dying Are we not reduc'd now to the same choice by their taking from us all means of living Are we not in as bad a Condition as heretofore We must dye or change our Religion 'T is true the death now propos'd is not hanging or burning as formerly but I am not yet resolv'd whether is more eligible to dye in a moment on a Gibbet or pine to death by a long train of Miseries Par. You are not wanting to your selves in setting out to the height the misery of your condition But leaving out the figures and aggravations of your pathetical Descriptions the rest will signifie little Hug. Law Do you call it Figure and Aggravation to be in our condition expecting every day the thunder-bolt of a new Arrest for demolishing our Churches and depriving us of the Liberty of worshipping God Almighty You complain to this day of the Outrages committed upon your Churches and Images in the heat of the Civil War If our Churches were destroy'd by Violences as those we should have the Comfort of being able to preach on the Ruins of them and hope to see them rebuilt when the Kingdom should be at peace But we lose all not only our present Possession but all hopes for the future We are forc'd to grieve at heart for Calamities for which there is no Remedy I say to grieve at heart for 't is Criminal for us to make the most innocent complaint Perish we must and under a Formality and appearance of justice Be our Defence never so good what evidence soever we produce in our favour we are still in the wrong our Possession is unjust and hath no right to ground it They are not satisfi'd with taking away our Estates but they brand us for Usurpers How prodigiously bold is the Libel in your hand to challenge us to shew one Church demolish'd that was a Church at the time limited by the Edict when nothing can be more notorious than that of the great number of places of Religious Exercise lately interdicted perhaps there are not two that can be any way suspected to have been set apart for that use since the Edict of Nants This is clear by the Tables of our Ancient Synods where we find a greater Number by half of places for Religious Worship than we have at this day We had them at the time the Edict was made else how could they appear in Acts of the Synods past at that time By the Edict we are to continue in peaceable Possession of all we then had and what we then had is now taken from us contrary to the express terms of the Edict and all the rights of Possession and Prescription For besides their Arrests ex parte wherein they pretend we have Liberty to make our Defence yet condemn us unheard they extort from his Majestys Declarations that ruine us that reduce us to Extremity and run us into Despair Par. Pray Sir which are those ruining Declarations Hug. Law I need not tell you Sir what they are They are too publick to escape the knowledg of a Person so well acquainted as you are with the World There are Volumes made of them and our good friends of the Clergy cram their Studies with Collections of them They set up the Title of them in Triumph Arrests pass'd against the Hugonots by the Solicitation of the Clergy of France Our late Calamities are so grievous they make us forget the former Do but call to mind the Declarations published against us within twelve months last past and you will see whether our Complaints are but figurative and pathetick Aggravations Par. Those Declarations are not very many Hug. Law They are not quite as many as the weeks in a year but half a dozen more such would quite undo us Have we no cause think you to complain of the Declaration that orders the Judges or others appointed for that purpose to go visit our sick at the point of death to know what Religion they will dye in Par. What harm in that Every man may die of what Religion he please Those that visit you put no force upon you but ask you a Question or two and leave you Hug. Law The fault I find with it is that it opens a gap for all sorts of Seduction and Violence By the
Hug. Gent. I see you are of their opinion who hold they have a design to seize upon our Children Hug. Law Alas Sir can you doubt of it if the Declaration against the dying had not sufficiently convinc'd you if the Arrest that prohibits the Midwives of our Religion to lay any woman if the permission granted to the Midwives of the Roman-Catholick Perswasion to baptize our Infants as soon as they are born had not given you cause enough to support it I believe you will not require clearer demonstration than the late Declaration so much talk'd of by which they are impowr'd to take from us our Children at Seven years old A terrible Declaration to Fathers and Mothers A Declaration will make us take the resolution to throw our selves at the Kings feet to beg of him that he will take away our lives or allow us the liberty of our Conscience and our Children or leave to go naked out of his Kingdom to live dispers'd through all Countries of the world till we pine to death Par. The Declaration orders no more than that at Seven years old Children shall be of age to choose their Religion Is this such a matter to be exclaim'd at The Declaration of the Children shall be receiv'd but no violence offer'd them Hug. Law Is this a matter to be exclaim'd at say you Pray Sir shew me in History one Example of such a Persecution one President of a Grievance of this nature that denies Parents the liberty to instruct their Children in their Religion Was it ever heard of that Children should have power given them to make choice of their Religion at an age they are incapable to distinguish between black and white an age to be perswaded to any thing with a Plum or an Apple an age to which the best Arguments are the finest Rattles to play with No Violence say you shall be offer'd the Children Is it not a violence and wrong to the Parents to have their Children seduc'd and taken away from them What need of Violence to be us'd against Children of that Age which are easily perswaded to any thing The Violence is done to the Parents whose Children shall be taken away from them as soon as seduc'd to declare themselves inclin'd to be Roman Catholicks In a word On what account soever Children shall be forceably taken out of the Bosoms of their Mothers never to return Can you call it a small Matter a slight Business against which there is no cause to exclaim Par. Once more I affirm it the Declaration says not your Children shall be taken from you Hug. Law I confess it does not Yet they who are entrusted with the Execution of it will do it And the Declaration was desir'd and obtain'd for no other end Shall I prophesie to you the issue of this Declaration as I have been your Historian in giving you an account of the Consequences of that which concerns the sick It shall be presently given out there is no Violence design'd Order shall be given by word of mouth to the Magistrates not to permit any to be done The Priests in a while will not at all regard these Prohibitions though perhaps at first they will observe some measures and content themselves it may be with engaging by Oath in Confession all the Women particularly those of mean condition as the Servants in our Families to endeavour all they can to seduce the Children by Promises and private Instructions and all other means useful to that purpose For a Hobby-horse a Child will be made to say he hath a mind to go to Mass Two Witnesses shall be ready to swear it The Child shall presently be taken away never to be seen again by the Parents Yet they must pay an extraordinary rate for the Board and Instruction of the Children taken away Thus will they kill two Birds with one stone take away the Children and ruine the Parents to force them by Poverty to quit their Religion In a short time they will proceed farther they will find a pretence to enter our Houses They will have receiv'd News from very good hands the Children have a great inclination for the Catholick Religion but that their Parents are harsh to them for it They will enter by Authority from the Magistrate and 〈◊〉 out the Parents and Relations Having the Children alone they will say what they please The holy Spirit will inspire them in a moment and dissipate those thick Mists of Calvinism that darkned their tender understandings It will on the sudden make them so clear sighted they will in a moment discover all Catholick Truths and must presently be lock'd up in Cloysters to be educated there till they come to maturity sufficient to resist a Father and Mother and proof to the perswasions of Friends and influence of Relations Par. This I grant is already so obvious that I shall make no scruple to acknowledg it You perhaps may be permitted to dye in your Religion but care shall be taken to bring up your Children better And this is the principal means to be us'd for destroying your Sect. Hug. Law We see it very clearly Sir The Arrest against our Midwives that which orders the Magistrate to visit our sick and this last Declaration have put it out of doubt and you call this Sir 'T is a Proceeding you will be puzzl'd to parallel in the most barbarous Countries and Ages of the World It violates the most sacred and most venerable Laws It ruins the Foundation of Authority by destroying the Paternal which is the most Ancient the most Just the most Venerable and the ground of all other Probably Sir you have seen the Memoires and Petition we presented to the King on this Subject The many injustices of that Declaration are so fully made out by the Petition I mention'd I will forbear enlarging on them here They are Injustices that fly in our Faces Can we be silent where nature speaks Is there a greater cruelty than to rob Parents of their Children 'T is a mutilation that puts us to ineffable Torment 'T is an usage unthought of in the Age of Torture and Massacre And will you say still we have no cause to complain we are not put to extremities You may believe Sir that in taking away our Children they tear our very Bowels And that the Punishments we formerly endur'd are nothing to this The Consequences of it you will see surprizing and horrible The tenderness of Mothers the Sentiments of Religion and the Fury of Anger mixt together are a Compound capable to produce terrible Effects I fear you may see examples of Fury equal to those of the Jewish Women who finding their Children were to be forc'd from them to be baptiz'd destroy'd both the Children and themselves to prevent it 'T is a new kind of Torment will dispeople France more than all the Massacres of the last Age For all those among us who love their Religion will certainly endeavour to save
Councel of the City This Author informs you also that the Dukes of Savoy resolv'd at any rate to make themselves Masters of Geneva got a Creature of theirs Peter de la Baum to be made Bishop This man being a Traytor to the City he ought to have protected did all in his Power to bring it under the Tyranny of the Savoyards Those who most vigorously oppos'd this Enterprize and oblig'd him first to retire were very Zealous Roman-Catholicks They put themselves under the protection of the Canton of Fribourg which had been and was then of the Roman-Catholick perswasion The Doctrine of the Reformed was preach'd in the City many were converted the Bishop return'd to oppose them He had a great Contest with the Senate about some Prisoners he pretended belong'd to him in prejudice of the Councel of the City who was judicially possess'd of their Business The Councel carryed it against the Bishop and remain'd Masters of the Prisoners the subject of this Controversie was matter of Jurisdiction not of Religion The Bishop having lost the Cause withdrew out of the City He was so far from-being expell'd or driven away that his Authority was own'd there a long time after But discovery being made of several Conspiracies of this Bishop tending to an absolute suppression both of the Religion and Liberty of the City being then for the most part reform'd his Authority at last expir'd in a little State he was not able to manage the free People of it having made choice of a Religion contrary to his Par. 'T is easie in so short an Account as you give to cover truths with falshoods the matters of Fact are for the most part disguis'd And it would not be difficult to give them another Face which would represent this Enterprize a meer Rebellion But 't will be too long a digression to enter into particulars of this nature We had rather hear what you can say in favour of your Protestants of Germany Hug. Law I say Sir there 's no reason to accuse them of Rebellion against their Soveraigns 'T is perhaps the League of Smalcald you would lay to their Charge It was Sir a League defensive only F. Maimbourg shall witness it They concluded says he Hist Lutb lib. 3. An. 1531. their League of mutual defence against all those who would trouble them in the exercise of their Religion The same Author tells us that if the Protestant Princes had any design to prevent the Emperor and take up Arms before him Luther oppos'd it And the Letter he writ on that Subject to the Elector of Saxony may be seen at this day at the beginning of the first Tome of Luthers works Is there any thing more natural than to unite in order to common safety This League was not made by Rebels and seditious Subjects but by Soveraign Princes 'T is very well known the Emperor is not Master of the Empire which is a Confederation of several States united under one Head yet reserving to themselves-their Liberty and Soveraignty In matters of Peace and War Impositions raising Armies and all other Acts of Soveraignty the Princes and free Towns do what they please They make War one against another They end their differences as they please and enter when they think fit into Interests contrary to those of the Emperor If the Emperor attempt any thing against the Priviledges of any Member of the Empire they remedy themselves by Arms without incurring the penalty or name of Rebels Who knows not this must be a stranger to the History of Germany The Golden Bull is express in it Declaring that if the Emperor violate any Right or Priviledge belonging by that Bull to the Members of the Empire the Princes Ecclesiastical and Secular have Power to oppose him and cannot on that account be charg'd with Rebellion Nor can the Protestants of Germany be charg'd with Rebellion for entring into the League of Smalcald Which was not more against the Emperor than against all other who should persecute them True it is these Confederates ten years after had War with Charles the 5th but were forc'd into it They did not take up Arms first the Emperor form'd a design to destroy them and they were oblig'd to defend themselves Besides there is nothing more false than that this was properly a War of Religion That was only a pretence by which Charles the 5th engag'd Pope Paul the 3d. in the League against the Confederates of Smalcald The Pope indeed would have it pass for a holy War undertaken for the destruction of Heresie The Emperor on the contrary publish'd a Manifesto wherein he professed That the War he was entring into was not a War of Religion That this appear'd clearly by his permitting liberty of Conscience to the Lutheran Princes and Souldiers who faithfully serv'd him in his Armies and that he had not entred into a League with the Pope otherwise than as a Prince who assisted him against the Common Enemy 'T is certain he had in his Army many Protestant Princes particularly Maurice and Angustus Dukes of Saxony and Albert and John Marquesses of Brandenbourg Charles whose Ambition knew no bounds had no other design but to destroy the liberty of the Empire and to make it Hereditary in his Family This appear'd by the consequence of the War wherein though he had all the good Fortune he could hope for he perform'd not a tittle of what he had promis'd the Pope He endeavour'd not the destruction of Lutheranism but having taken the Confederate Towns put them to great Ransoms and drew from them vast Sums of Money and huge quantities of Ammunition but left them at full liberty to profess what Religion they pleas'd The Pope perceiving himselfabus'd he call'd home his Nephew and his Troops which return'd miserably scatter'd into Italy All the Benefit he reap'd by this War was vexation at heart for having assisted Charles to oppress Germany and having open'd him a way for oppressing Italy But how can it be imagin'd Charles the fifth undertook this War out of Zeal to Religion when if he was of any Religion he was perhaps more a Lutheran than a Roman-Catholick Which there is just cause to believe because Ponce de Leon his Confessor and depositary of his most secret thoughts in whose Arms he expir'd was condemn'd to be burnt as an Heretick by Philip the Son of Charles I see on your Table the Abridgement of the History of France by Mezeray the first Edition Let us see what he says the last Age thought of it This Author is a Roman-Catholick and judicious He is read by all and you cannot suspect him Philip says he Ann. 1559. At his arrival into Spain caus'd to be burnt in his presence at Seville and Valladolid a great multitude of those they call Lutherans Men and Women Gentlemen and Church-men and the Effigies of Constantius Pontius Confessor to Charles the 5th who attended him to his death 'T is no wonder he was not
afraid to stain the Memory of his Father for if some may be credited he was about to have an information put in against him and to have his bones burnt as an Heretick And that he forbore this proceeding for no other reason than that his Father had been an Heretick he was thereby devested of his Estates and consequently had no right to resign them to his Son Philip indeed appear'd a great Zealot for his Religion But if you will believe the Germans the terrible hatred he had against the Protestants proceeded not so much from his love to the Catholick Church as from his violent resentment against the Lutheran Confederates who oppos'd the Design of Charles the 5th to make him associate of the Empire with Ferdinand his Brother whose Successor in the Empire Philip aspir'd to be But to return to our Subject I say the Germans fought for their Religion and Liberty by Power inherent in the Princes of the Empire who are as much Masters of their States as the Emperor of his Maurice of Saxony effected what Frederick could not He recovered the Liberty of Germany and broke the Yoke under which it groan'd Having thus justifi'd the Protestants of Germany I know of no other but the States of the United Provinces who are charg'd to have chang'd their Religion to set up and maintain a new form of Government Par. Ah! Sir as for them I advise you for your credit not to engage in their defence 'T is so publickly notorious they were Subjects of Spain and that in changing their Religion they chang'd their Master by as plain a Rebellion as ever was in the World I am so much your Friend I would not have you undertake their Cause Hug. Law No Sir I will not undertake it Grotius de antiquitate Reipublicae Batavicae 'T is done to my hand Read what the learned Grotius hath writ of the Original and Government of the Provinces of the Low-Countreys Read their Historians read ours You will find these People never were absolutely Subjects of Spain that the Earls of Holland never were their absolute Masters that the Government was mix'd partly Aristocratical partly Monarchick These Historians will tell you the Provinces of the Low-Countries were reform'd long before they took up Arms against the King of Spain that in the first Wars there was an equal if not a greater number of Roman-Catholick than of Protestant Lords and Towns engag'd against the Catholick King That the States chose the Duke of Alanson a Son of France a Roman-Catholick for their Master That before that Election they had submitted themselves to Arch-Duke Matthias a good Roman-Catholick You will see there that the horrible Cruelties of the Duke of Alva fore'd this poor People beyond the bounds of patience That Tyrant boasted he had destroy'd by the hands of the common Executioner eighteen thousand Persons and had made the Confiscations of the Condemn'd amount to eight millions of Gold yearly You may if you please read in Mezeray's Abridgement who is neither Hollander nor Hugonot Ann. 1557. That before the Duke of Alva left Spain they arrested the Marquess of Berguen and Floris de Mentmorency Montigny who were gone from the States of the Low-Countries to make their Remonstrances to King Philip The former dyed of grief or was poison'd the other was Beheaded though both were good Roman-Catholicks By which it appear'd the Councel of Spain had form'd their design against the Liberty of the Low-Countries as much at least as against their new Religion If you have a mind to hear any more of the Low-Country Wars let us read Mezeray in the same place This year said he They make the beginning of the Low-Country Wars which lasted till the Peace of Munster without intermission other than that of the Truce agreed by the mediation of Hen. 4th The fear of the Inquisition was the principal Cause of the War The Inquisition was extremely pernicious and insupportable to the Flemings for besides the two violent rigors it exercis'd against those who had embrac'd the new Opinions it broke off all Commerce c. The very Clergy was no less displeas'd at it for the seven newly erected Bishopricks taken out of the Metropolitan Diocesses of Rhemes Treves and Cologne and the Bishopricks of Liege and Munster because they had appropriated to these new erected Bishopricks the richest Abbies of the Low-Countries and bestow'd them on Prelates at the Devotion of the Councel of Spain So that under pretence of maintaining the ancient Religion the Spaniards labour'd to establish an absolute Dominion in Provinces which owe but a limited Obedience according to their Laws and their Priviledges This Sir was the true source of these Wars wherein not only the Lay-subjects of both Religions but the Roman-Catholick Clergy of the Low-Countries were engag'd against the King of Spain for the preservation of their Liberty Read Strada whom you cannot suspect of partiality in our favour and you will discover through all the Disguisements of that Author that it was not Religion but the Cruelty of the Spanish Government was the sole Cause of the revolt of those Provinces If all this will not satisfie you I will give you leave Sir to brand the memory of our Kings who maintain'd the Rights of these Provinces thought their Cause just and supported them against the enterprizes of a Master who had lost his just Rights of Lawful Soveraignty over them by endeavouring to be their Tyrant Par. I see we shall never agree in this point We were better return to our Civil Wars of France wherein those of your Religion have spilt so much Blood and appear'd always of a Spirit inclin'd to Rebellion Hug. Law If you think we have nothing to say for our selves you are very much mistaken Sir We have so many things to answer we know not what Method to put them in nor how to comprehend them in few words The Wars you would charge us with as a Crime have been Civil Wars of the same nature with others rais'd in the Bowels of a State by the discontent of the People and the jealousie of the great ones to which Religion was but an accidental ingredient This Sir I undertake to prove evidently by History But before I enter on that I beg leave to make some Reflections Is it not a great piece of injustice in those who read the History of the last Age to fix their eyes on those thirty years only which pass'd between the death of Henry the 2d and that of Henry the 3d. without taking notice of the forty years elaps'd during the Raign of Francis the 1st and Henry the 2d If they charge us with having been engag'd in the Civil Wars those thirty years ought they not to commend the patience we had for forty years before Admit it we were afterwards more impatient than we ought however 't is true that for almost half an Age we patiently endur'd unheard of Cruelties without seeking any
true is it that the Ambition of the great ones was the cause of these Wars on the one side and the other Hath not the Duke of Alanson Brother of Charles the ninth and Henry the third been seen at the head of Thirty Thousand of these Male-Contents Yet he was no Hugonot nor ever favour'd them of the Religion Were not Marshal Danville and several other firm and profest Roman Catholicks engag'd for the same Party By which it appears all those Wars were the Wars of the Discontented in general whether Catholicks or Hugonots To Conclude Sir for justifying our Hugonots in these Wars I can prove they had not any design but to preserve themselves the State and the Illustrious Princes of the Family of Bourbon now Regnant On the contrary the opposite Party was a Spanish Faction who covered their Designs with the Specious Vail of Religion but were Enemies to the State and would have put the Crown upon the Heads of Strangers Par. As to the last Article I pray Sir ingage not in the proof of it Repetitions are troublesom to the Speaker and no less tedious and unpleasant to the hearer This Gentleman hath acquainted us with what you have to say on that Subject for he hath endeavor'd to prove the faction of the Guises would have taken away from the Branch of Bourbon their Lives and the Crown to bring France under the Dominion of a Stranger 'T is possible there might be some such design but the faults of others do not justify us If the faction of the Guises had Criminal designs are you therefore more innocent Hug. Law Sir that which hath been said by us on this Subject is not the hundredth part of what may be said to prove the faction of the house of Guise which call'd it self the Holy Union and went under the name of the League from the year 1576. to the year 1600. was altogether Spanish and an Enemy to the State and that our Party which was wholly opposite to the other was altogether French But I will comply with your desires and say no more of it provided you will in requital answer a question I am going to ask you What reason you Gentlemen of the Roman Catholick Religion have to Condemn the Protestants for their pretended Rebellions against their Princes on the account of Religion Par. 'T is on this Ground That Subjects owe absolute obedience to their Soveraign's in all things That the Soveraign is Master of the Religion of his Countrey And that Subjects have no right to demand toleration of a Religion different from that of the State Hug. Law You have answered just as I expected And according to these Maxims you argue very right For if a Prince is absolute Master of the Religion of his People as of other their Concerns if Subjects are obliged to follow always the Religion of their Soveraign doubtless there is reason to charge them with Rebellion who with Arms in their hands desire to be tolerated in the Exercise of a Religion different from that of the State But Sir have you thought well of the Maxim you propos'd Do you remember 't is the Maxim of Hobbs in his Politicks You know how famous Spinosa was for Impiety He was for allowing every one Liberty to think and speak what he pleas'd concerning Religion yet attributes to the Soveraign an absolute Authority over the Religion of the State You know these two men are an Object of Execration to all Divines and that they are generally look'd upon as great Enemies of Religion And amongst all their Maxims this in particular hath been look'd upon as one of the most Pernicious Consider a little how far it may be carry'd If the Prince be Master of Religion you Catholicks must be Reformed in England and Holland and so must the Lutherans in Denmark and Swede and the Christians of the East must turn Mahometans in Persia and Turkey If therefore this may peradventure be a false Maxim as certainly it is is it so great a Crime to be of a Religion different from that of the State And if you are of a Religion different from that of your Prince is it a Crime to obtain from him a toleration to exercise it in private or publick Par. Either you misapprehend me or I have not well express'd my self I design not to assert the Empire of Kings extends to the Conscience or that they are Masters of the Religion of the heart I know very well we are to obey God rather than Men I coufess it allowable and frequently necessary to be of a Religion different from that of our Prince In a word 't is no Crime to desire permission of the Prince to make publick profession of a Religion different from his My meaning was that the Prince is Master of the External part of Religion That if he will not permit any Religion but his when we cannot obey we may die patiently without making other defence than our Sufferings Because true Religion ought not to make use of force and Arms for its establishment Princes are infinitely to blame when they violently oppose the Establishment of the true Religion but they are answerable only to God for it Hug. Law In this sence I confess your Maxim is pious and bears the Character of the Primitive Christian Morality And now Sir I have you where I wish'd you I ask you with confidence what ground you Roman Catholicks have to charge us with the violation of this Maxim If you think it good why d' you not observe it If you observe it not why make you such ado why clamour you so much against others who do not observe it You may very well be allow'd Gentlemen to make the like Objection against the Reformed You who are of a Religion whose History if written would be a continual Series of Rebellion against Soveraigns of Attempts against their Authority Conspiracies against their Lives and Assassinations committed upon their Persons for the sake of Religion and under pretence of maintaining it You know the History of past Ages and the present and cannot be ignorant that when a Prince meddles never so little with what you call the Estate the Immunities and Priviledges of the Church though these things concern not the grounds of Religion he is call'd impious an Heretick and a favourer of Hereticks and permission is given to rebel against him For an Abby for the Revenues of a Bishoprick taken into the hands of a Prince for the Rights of Regale for Nomination to some Benefices what a bustle is made what extravagant Insolences are not committed According to that pious Maxim upon which you ground your Charge against us and so cruelly prosecute it those who labour for the maintenance of Religion are to be meerly patient and ought not to make use of any means that may diminish or indanger the Authority of the Prince But will you cast your eye upon the Conduct of the League that Holy Vnion which in 1576.
Sufferers in those horrible Tragedies The fear of seeing like days again drove them out of their Wits and hurried them into a design to prevent Calamities that appear'd otherwise inevitable This is a truth to which the late King of glorious memory bears witness in his Declaration of the 10th of Nov. 1615. And that great Prince found in that Source of the War a reason to excuse it When he says The poor people having too lightly believ'd there were designes against their Lives had precipitated themselves into this Enterprize thinking themselves forc'd into it for their just and lawful defence Besides if you consider with what Spirit our Protestants were animated in the last Wars you will find some cause to excuse them perhaps there was in their Conduct somewhat of the spirit of that Governour who writ to Tiberias The Empire is yours my Government is mine That is they were jealous of their Liberties and Priviledges to that degree they would not have them infring'd in the least but you cannot with justice charge them to have been animated with a Spirit of Contempt or hatred or revolt against their Soveraign All their design was to Cantonize themselves to preserve their Religion this only excepted they were always ready to sacrifice all for the Grandeur of their King and the good of the State This is acknowledg'd more than once by the Roman Catholick Historians After all these Troubles ended about threescore years since cannot be at this day a lawfull Cause for revoking the Edicts of Pacification because our Kings have defac'd the memory of those Troubles by so many Declarations and have confirmed by their Royal words frequently and solemnly given us the favours they had granted us Good God! where is that integrity what 's become of that sincerity and good faith men ought to practice Will they never call to mind that there is in Heaven a God faithful to his promises who threatens vengeance on those who violate Treaties and Alliances Par. Gentlemen I cannot endure you should make such a noise about pretended breaches of words Is not a King always Master of his Arrests and Declarations Is any thing more ordinary than to see that revok'd at one time which hath been establish'd at another Is a Prince charg'd to have dealt falsly or deceitfully when he charges or revokes some Laws he had made Hug. Law Let me intreat you Sir not to permit your self to be misled and impos'd upon by that sorry argument so often brought against us Consider I pray there is a great deal of difference between Sumptuary Laws or Regulations of Proceedings in Suits Criminal or Civil and Treaties bonâ fide made with Subjects and People who are or enter under the Dominion of a Prince A Soveraign may revoke Sumptuary Laws and alter the forms of Proceedings which have been heretofore but are not now useful to the State because they are not Treaties he made not these Laws irrevocable he was not engag'd he did not promise any he would not revoke them but in the Edicts of Pacification our Kings treated with Men in the presence of God they engag'd themselves to allow them some Liberties and preserve them They promis'd this solemnly without reserving a Power of Revocation It cannot be deny'd but the Councel of France is universally blam'd for looking upon all Treaties made with those who are or enter under the King's Dominion as Toys to play with and deceive the simple and false Dice to cheat those who mean honestly and act fairly For those many years the United Provinces have had in their subjection Bolduc and Mastricht Cities wherein the Roman Catholicks have all manner of Liberty and the Burgesses great Priviledges they have not fail'd to observe to a tittle the Treaties and Capitulations agreed on I heard read the other day the Record of what was transacted upon the voluntary surrender of Sedan to the King There cannot be a thing fairer than the Priviledges the King grants to the Town and the Religion then predominant there Nothing more solemn than the manner of their mutual engagement by an Oath of Fidelity on the Subjects part and on the part of the Soveraign by the Liberties he allows them but the memory of all this is vanish'd When we mention these Treaties at Court all the answer we have is The King's mind is alter'd This Conduct which is observ'd in matters of State as well as of Religion does France a greater injury than can be imagin d it renders the French Government intolerable at a time when France would have it appear the most easy The People of Flanders and the Franche Comte lately conquered retain to this day an affection for Spain and groan under a Yoke which is not at present very heavy 't is because they know the Priviledges and Liberties they enjoy shall not last long there is more danger than you think of in this manner of proceeding for the World never wants some Factious Spirits who mind not that other mens sins cannot justify or excuse them in theirs they forget that the faults of Princes against their Subjects do not authorize Subjects to rebel against their Princes they frequently say to one another We are not obliged to keep our words with him that breaks his with us Fregit fidem frangatur eidem You see you have carry'd us a great way from the place we were at but you will think it fit Sir that we return thither again and speak now of the Conspiracy in England Par. You are strangely in love with that Subject Let me lead you where I will you are still for returning thither And what shall you get by it All you can say is overthrown in one word It is constantly deny'd there is one word of truth in all that story Hug. Law 'T is for that very reason Sir we return so often to that Subject Can you think it fit we should patiently endure our selves to be charg'd to have invented by the most Diabolical malice that ever was conceiv'd a Romance a Fable such as you suppose the History of this Conspiracy to be out of a form'd design and of set purpose to destroy the Honour the Estates and the Lives of Millions of innocent Persons What proof have we ever given that we are capable of so horrible a Treason I know very well you will object the same to us and ask what colour there is to believe that you Catholicks could have conspir'd to massacre Millions of Innocents And that 't is as probable the Protestants have invented this Plot to destroy the Catholicks as that the Catholicks have entred into a Conspiracy to destroy the Protestants But Sir the presumptions are far stronger if not altogether for us 'T is not to be found in History we ever plotted infernal Devices like this to destroy our Countreymen or charg'd them with such black Crimes to ruin them On the contrary the History and memory of Men yet living inform us 't is ordinary
Maxims than a time when they assur'd themselves and were fully perswaded they should find a King of their Religion in the Person of his Royal Highness 'T is true the King of England hath been favourable to them in tolerating them but they were notsatisfy'd with this and having lost all hopes of prevailing with him to turn Roman Catholick they look'd upon his Life as a great Obstacle to their Designs for it made them lose time and they had reason to fear the Protestants in the interim might discover the design so that it was their interest speedily to make away a King who possess'd the place of him from whom they promis'd themselves a full re-establishment of the Roman Catholick Religion in England Recollect the Evidence add to it the Letters and Memoirs that were seiz'd and the Murder of Godfrey and I will justify it a man must have the Forehead of a Jesuit to deny there was a Plot. The Memoirs and Letters are very numerous you may read them in the printed Tryals particularly you will find a great Collection of them printed with Stafford's Tryal But pray Sir remember Coleman's Letter I spoke to you of last year that alone is enough to stop the mouths of those who dare say this Plot is an invention of the Protestants To which Calumny we will constantly oppose as an impenetrable Buckler the words of that Letter acknowledg'd by Coleman to be his We have here a mighty work upon our hands no less than the Conversion of three Kingdoms and by that perhaps the utter subduing of a Pestilent Heresy which has domineer'd over great part of this Northern World a long time Coleman 's Tryal pag. 69. I said not a word t' you of another Letter as plain as this which you may see in Ireland's and Grove's Tryals where you will find words to this effect Every one had notice not to make too much hast to London nor to be there long before the day appointed nor to appear much in the Town before the Congregation was ended for fear of giving cause to suspect the Design This Letter doth not tell us what was the design of this famous Assembly but it lets us see they had some great design in hand and the Plot being discover'd at the same time 't is not hard to guess what it was It hath been prov'd before the House of Commons that upon the first discovery of the Plot one of the Lords accus'd to have had a hand in it writ to another of the same Lords then in Staffordshire that their designs were discover'd and that he should use his best endeavours to conceal all such their Catholick Friends as were concern'd in that affair This Letter was found by a Justice of the Peace in the house of that Lord to whom it was directed upon the search made for Arms in Roman Catholick houses and was produc'd to the Commons in Parliament with all the Witnesses to whom it was shew'd the moment it was found Hug. Law You have reason to wish Gentlemen that my Friend here had not been any better instructed than formerly in these matters but had still continued under his mistake that Oates and Bedlow had not chang'd their Religion but remain'd Roman Catholicks after the Plot discover'd for the pains he hath taken to inform himself have made him acquainted with many particulars which cannot please you since they make it clearly appear there was a Plot. Par. We might have easily known all this already being taken all out of those Tryals printed in several Languages but since you make use of them you will allow me to do so and give me leave to ask you whether the clearing of Wakeman the Queen of England's Physitian be not an evident proof that all your Witnesses are false Witnesses For they are in effect no other Oates and Bedlow charg'd Wakeman to have treated for fifteen thousand pounds for poysoning the King Here are two Witnesses enough to Condemn a Man Here is in question one of the principal Crimes laid to the charge of the pretended Conspirators their design to make away the King yet this man is acquitted by his Judges It necessarily follows your two famous Witnesses were taken for false Witnesses and if they were not to be credited against Wakeman why should they be credited against the rest Hug. Law Do not say Sir that the clearing of Sir George Wakeman is a proof of his innocence or of the falshood of the Evidence say rather that the Chief Justice who sate at that Tryal hath been since impeach'd before the Peers of England in Parliament and had the Parliament continued sitting perhaps that Judge had smarted for it The King was not very well satisfy'd of Wakeman's innocence after his Acquittal For that Poyson Merchant having had the confidence to appear at Court after his enlargement the King caus'd him to be turn'd out with shame Par. There is one thing sticks still very hard with me as to this Plot that of twelve or fifteen Persons who have been executed for the pretended Conspiracy not one confest himself guilty in the least When Men are ready to appear before God the Mask falls off it self the fear of Hell softens the hardness of their hearts You shall not see a Malefactor but discharges his Conscience at his death if some of them were hardned enough to deny to the death yet sure one or other of them would have confess'd something but there hath not been one of them who did not protest to the last he was innocent Consider after what manner dy'd Stafford and Plunket the Primate of Ireland who were Persons of Honour and Quality Hug. Law It surprizes me Sir to hear you make their obstinate Silence an Argument of their innocence every day we see Criminals who to save their Credit and have the pleasure of saying they dye innonocent resist the most violent Tortures Yet you cannot comprehend how Men who have long fortify'd their Courage and prepar'd for an Enterprize the most dangerous that may be have the power to keep till death a Secret on which depends not only their Honour but the preservation of all the Roman Catholicks in England Had they confess'd themselves Guilty they must have named their Complices and in so doing they would have destroy'd an infinite number of People and render'd their Religion abominable in the World by making it appear it inspires into its Votaries such horrible Sentiments and gives Birth to such furious designs These Considerations are of weight and strength sufficient to keep the weakest of Men from revealing a Secret of this importance When the Powder-Plot was discover'd in 1605. not one of the Conspirators confest and nothing had ever been prov'd upon them out of their own mouths had not the Judges had the ingenuity to cause Garnet and Hall to be imprison'd in two Dungeons where they could speak to one another and in the Wall between the Dungeons there was a place they plac'd