should minister the Communion to them and that they do thereby sufficiently comply with the sayd passage Cognosce vultum S. Tho. opus 15. c. 4. c. what would they be able to alledge against it which might subsist For one Doctor whom they shall produce we will produce twenty and it is well enough knowne that the true literall sence of these words doth import no more but that Princes should bee true Pastors of their people or house-keepers of their family and domestickes and at the most it teacheth them that the way to make a family great is to haue great flockes of sheepe which is the most harmelesse meanes of growing very rich and that very soone As for the rest they are but morall senses and good wits will draw forth as many of them as they list and they may serue for the instruction of mans life But that this should import a Commandement touching Confessions and Confessions at Easter and be a text of so much aduantage for Pastors verily that I may not say any thing which sauoureth neuer so little of sharpenesse it doth much amaze such men as are of good vnderstanding and voide of interest 9. To say that he should knowe them that so he may conduct them as is fit this indeede were to be wished but what conduct will you be able to giue a man who may come to you in a presse of people at eleauen of the clocke vpon Easter day in the morning and whom afterward you shall not see in a twelue moneth and peraduenture neuer more for hee may change his parish And will you be able to remember at the ende of a yeere what he sayd to you the yeere before But let vs here make a stop for we haue walked too long vpon a weake planke and vpon a passage which deserueth so little consideration 10. The great passage whereof men serue themselues is the Chanter Omnis uiriusque sexus of Innocent â—he the third in the Councell of Lateran and Propâ—â—â—s Saeceraos and the Glosse also which doth expresly say that a man must confesse himselfe to his proper Priest or must haue leaâ—e of him to do otherwise For as much as it necessary that hee confesse himselfe to his owne Pastor or Vicar at the least at Easter or else that we ouerturne all Ecclesiasticall Hierarchy My Lords most reuerend and most illustrious I conjure you to renew here your attentions and your good affections for you are greatly interessed in what I shall say As soone as the Parsons or Curates should haue proued if they were able that this is not to be vnderstood of the Pope â—ust so soone would you find that by a stronger reason they would maintaine that it were also not to be vnderstood of you nor should it be permitted to you any longer to place Paenitentiaries in the Churches of all This relates to an Hospitall which was founded in Paris by S. Lewes your Dioceses to cause the publication of the Indulgences of the three hundreth blind men as you are wont to do nor yet the Iubilee in the next yeare nor at any time afterward by their saying a man must Confesse himselfe to his proper Priest who is the Parson or Curate or to them who shall be liked by him and to no other and it shall not be lawfull for you to allow any man to heare Confessions in your Church vnlesse it please them Pretending that in this they depend on none but God hauing as much power within their parishes as Bishops haue within their Dioceses and as the Pope hath in Rome And this is the language which secretly passeth amongst many of them who haue aimed at this marke this long time and one of them vpon my knowledge hath expressed himselfe in cleere tearmes that hee depended not vppon the Pope nor vppon the Bishop but vpon God alone They will say as much of the Deanes of Chapters who pretend to be the proper Priests of the Chapter and as the Parsons or Vicars They would say as much to my Lords the great Almoners of France who are the Bishops for the Court and you would bee put to more paines to iustifie and defend that then the Regulars their Cause by whom they beginne their battery that so afterward they may also bring it in vpon you Let vs see the force of the Canon which they briâ—g against you and against us but let vs see it with a sweet and quiet mind without sharpenesse without preiudice and without all imaginable respect of interest for we cannot honour you too much nor them after you 11. First what is this Glosse and who is the Authour thereof It is Ioannes Andraeas a Doctor of Bolonia and Doctor Bernardus Botonius borne at Parma and a Canon of Bolonia who glossed the Decretals and seemed to say That Regulars cannot heare Confessions without licence giuen by the proper Pastour in vertue of these Priviledges For otherwise they should bee equall to Parsons and Vicars Let vs see their very words vpon the Canon Proprio Saâ—e doti sed ecce si Praeditatores fratres Minores vel alij Religiosi non habentes populum habent Privilegium vt alienos Parochianos possint recipere ad paenitentiam nunquid sufficit Priuilegium vt Parochianum alterius possint recipere ad paenitentiam sine licentia proprij Sacerdotis Dicat quod non privilegium enim aequiparat cos illis qui à populo sunt electi velillis qui ab Episcopis populo praeficiuntur dat eis solam executionem ita necessaria est adhuc licentia Proprij Sacerdotis To this honest man of Bolonia who yet is no man of great moment and to this reason of his which is poore enough I will oppose two great men of the same place One is Gregory the thirteenth and the other the Cardinall Paleotta Arch-bishop of Bolonia whereof the one by most expresse Buls the other by the practise of his Dioces haue disauowed this Glosse and haue shewed that men ought to make no account thereof Whom now my Lords would you rather beleeue either this petty Canon or else the Pope and the Cardinall who were both of them Doctors of Bolonia and Oracles of the Church and who expresly affirme that Proprius Sacerdos are the Pope the Bishop and the Parson also But now take heed that he who makes the Glosse doe not specifie that the Proper Pastor must be onely the Parson or Curate but that hee bee kept to the Generall tearme and that it be the proper Priest who giueth this leaue And who hath euer doubted hereof And who hath euer beene so insolent as that he durst presume to heare Confessions without the leaue of Popes Councels or Bishops But if on the other side men haue this leaue against whom doe they mount this Canon and this Glosse which is so chanted out and maketh so much noyse to so little purpose But let vs put the case that this Doctor doth vnderstand
should beleeue him alone against a sacred torrent of so many others hee would giue mee little thankes for it and truely I haue no minde to offend him Would hee disagree from St. Bonauenture hee who in effect did nothing but by the aduice of Panigarola a man of the same Order and farre inferiour to Saint Bonauenture Pardon mee my Lords if I tell you that the Historie of St. Charles his life doth carry other manner of reasons with it then that which you alleadge how hee came to make his Diocesse so flourishing for that story tels us that the thing which made him victorious ouer so many impediments and inabled him to doe what hee listed was this which followeth 1. That hee led a holy and irreprehensible life L. 1. c. 8. 2. Hee did ordinarily fast and L. 8. c. 21. that oftentimes with bread and water yea and euen when hee was present at Feasts and he fasted for deuotion and not for thrift 3. Hee gaue ouer in one morning L. 2. c. 2. the reuenew of threescore thousand Crownes by the yeare and who would not beleeue a man who should at once alleadge threescore thousand reasons which weigh at the least a Crowne a peece 4. Hee alwayes euerie day recited L. c. 2. 8. his Breuiarie with his knees bent and his head bare and he euen blotted it all out with teares which his deuotion shed in so great aboundance 5. Hee did neuer in effect goe out L. 2. c. 2. of his Diocesse 6. Hee gaue almes euen almost L. 4. c. 3. l. 8. c. 28. beyond the meanes he had 7. He serued with his owne hands L. 4. c. 3. such persons as had plague soares vppon them 8. He made the visitation of his Diocesse on foote and hee performed his Pilgrimages after the same manner 9. He daily celebrated masse with an L. 8. c. 2. incredible deuotion and with a Majesty which was more then humane 10. Hee was peraduenture the L. 8. c. 16. most humble man of all his Diocesse and did in his very soule beleeue more meanely of himselfe then of any seruant hee had 11. He was indefatigable in the L. 8. c. 31. execution of his Office 12. Vnder his Scarlet hee wore a L. 8. c. 31. hard and rough haire-cloath 13. Hee tooke his rest eyther vppon L. 8. c. 3. the bare ground or else vppon straw which was as hard 14. He would read the holy Bible vppon his knees and with his head bare and the while hee would shed aboundance of teares 15. Hee carried a tender loue towards the seraunts of God 16. Euery yeare he made the spirituall L. 8. c. 5. exercises twice sometimes in the Nouiciate at Nouellara which my Lady his sister had founded vnder father Anthonio Valentino a Iesuite of whom I haue vnderstood thus much and sometimes at Arona in the Nouilitate which hee had founded himselfe and then hee did euer make his generall Confession 17. He would neuer do any thing L. 1. c. 4. without taking verie wise counsell and hee did exceedingly distrust his owne iudgement 18. Hee was euer the first at good workes at the Office of the Church at Sermons at the visiting of Hospitals and seruing the sicke 19. Hee was greatly exact and L. 8. c. 3. carefull not to giue holy Orders nor Benifices but to persons very capable and of good life 20. He would doe nothing of importance L. 8. c. 3. without communicating it first to the Pope and his Councell whom hee honoured as the Oracle of Heauen This in effect is that my Lords which gaue him so great power to make a reformation through his whole Diocesse and not eyther seculers or Regulers or such other aydes as those in fine in the midst of all impediments and when the whole seculer power would oppose it selfe to his designes the Gouernours of Millan sent worde to King Phillip the second that they were not able to resist him and the King would ordinarily make this answere Puesâ—el Arcobispo es vn sancto Let this Arch-bishop alone for hee is a uery Saint The Arch-bishop Visconte his successour a most wise man and whom I haue heard Preach would sometimes bee making the same offers but the same King answered concerning him Luego este no es saincto No sayth he the case is not the same For this man is not yet a Saint when hee shal be so wee will speake with him againe So that the beleefe which was had of the sanctity of Saint Charles was that which made him so omnipotent doe but giue me some Saint Charles like him and there shal be no Barbarisme which shall not be tamed and euen made holy in a short time but without that there will be much to do whosoeuer he be that goes about it and Charles Baromeus would not haue wrought those wonders if hee had not beene St. Charles All this say you goes well but in fine Saint Charles did not serue himselfe of Religious men in making that Reformation Though that were so yet the Pope his Vncle serued himselfe of them and so did the greatest Cardinalls of his time who found that they had no cause to repent it Farnesse at Rome Paleotta at Bolonia Valerio at Verona Priuli at Venice Medici at Florence and Este at Ferara that I may say nothing of my Lords the Cardinals of France whose memory is both in benediction and admiration hee of Bourbon of Vendosme of Lorayne of Tornon and so many others And these two last being men of very great judgement and reputation resolued when they dyed to breath out their soules in the hands of Religious men and to leaue their heartes depositated amongst them in testimony of an euerlasting loue And I will also forbeare to say any thing of such as liue and of an innumerable number of most eminent Prelates of France yea and of Europe who haue found themselues well at case by not hauing beene of that opinion which heere is attributed to Saint Charles I could here say much of those great Cardinalls of Ioyuse of Condy of Retz of Peron of Ciury and of so many others but I will forbeare and passe no further vpon this poynt But we will yet say better to you and I am content that Saint Charles be made the Iudge of al this questions for either the story of his life deceiues vs or certainely my Lords you will loose your cause So true it is that Saint Charles did the just contrary of all that which some men would make the World beleeue See how he did it and what his life relates When hee was conuerted in good earnest to God and to that eminent manner L. 1. c. 5. of life which he grew to lead he took for his guide Father Iohn Baptista L. 1. c. 5. Ribera a Iesuite When hee resolued to make his entry into Millan and to dispose of that people hee chose Father
AN ANSWER TO THE DEMANDS of a great Prelate Touching the Hierarchy of the Church And the just defence of Priviledged and Religious men Permissu Superiorum Printed at ROAN M DC XXVI EMMANUEL 〈…〉 … ndijs 〈…〉 Patris Will. Sancâ— A.C. Câ—ll Emman Cantat AN ANSVVERE To the demaunds of a great Prelate touching the Hierachy of the Church and the just defence of Priviledged and Religious men MY LORD I Am not able to expresse the obligation which I haue to you by reason of the Commandement which you vouchsafed to lay vppon me which yet notwithstanding is both sweet and sharpe Sweete in regard that it comes from you whom I doe so highly honour as well in regard of the eminent quality which you hold in the Church of God as by reason of your rare vertues and besides for that you are pleased to loue me cordially and more then I shall euer be able to deserue But yet sharpe withall because it bringeth a complaynt with it and sheweth a most bitter roote which hath sprowted forth and produced in the heart of many some little aversion from Priviledged persons and Religious men and which hath filled the mindes of many with a kinde of sharpnesse and euen of contempt and hate against them Yea the matter is past on so farre that many of them haue armed themselues with a certayne fervour and zeale and haue put themselues into combate against those other as against the enemies of their persons or at least as against the enemies of their authoritie their power and their greatnesse And yet certainly it seemes it would haue beene more honourable euen to fight for them as for their Children to protect them as their Orphanes and Pupills to haue set vppon the Wolfe who threatned them being their sheepe rather then to haue beaten them themselues for hauing perhaps a little strayed from the rest of the flocke if yet indeede they haue strayed at all Alas it will not be vnfitly done to feare that the same Serm. 157. which the great Chrysologus sayth of St. Paul may also be sayd of many others Per zelum legis legem impugnabat in Deum Dej amore peccabat I pray God of his great goodnesse to defend vs from this great misery for it is one of the most permitious and irremediable michiefes of all others if a man perswading himselfe that he seeketh nothing but God doe yet indeede vnder that beleefe seeke himselfe and suffer himselfe to be transported by some passion for such a one is a kind of incorrigible man and whilst hee thinketh to merit much he looseth all Qui errat quo magis progreditur Sene. eó magis errat profectus ejus defectus est But now since it hath pleased you to tell me that many of our Lords the Prelates of France haue this firme beleefe that Priviledged and Religious men haue as it were conspired against their authority and desire to abase and weaken their power to rayse vp and strengthen their owne Priviledges vpon the diminution and ruyne of Episcopall powers I will not speake to you as to you but I will doe it to you as to them or rather if it please you I will doe it by you to them but yet with so great respect and by way of discourse so full of honour of candour and of truth that God willing no man shall haue just cause of complaint by it And to the end that this good fortune may happen to me and that God may inspire me with his grace I doe in mine owne heart desire your holy and paternall Benediction I demaund not of you for the particular which I haue in hand any grace or fauour nor the sweete effects of your friendship nor any thing indeede but meere justice yea and euen rigour if you will sauing that you being so good can hardly be rigorous to any and that you may make no account of my reasons but according to the true value of them and by the just weight of a minde which is not pre-occupated or possessed by any contrary opinion nor wrapped vp in certaine jealousies and vntrue reports nor inflamed with the false fire of passion which may be ouer-cast with zeale nor yet pricked on by any discontentments but of a minde intirely free from all these things and which weigheth reason by the ballance of the Sanctuary and judgeeth of the whole businesse as in the presence of God and as being to render an account to the Divine Majesty of all his actions for the true way of treating well the affaires of God is to treate them so as belongeth to such affaires and to banish from thence all kinde of humane interest and all that which may sauour any way of earth But now before I will plunge my selfe more deepely into this sea which is tossed by so many windes and into the handling of this truth which is opposed by so many men it commeth into my thought that I must here doe that which was anciently remarked by Tertullian to haue beene done by those Primitiue Christians when they were persecuted much for their enemies caused the God of the Christians to be painted after a very strange and barbarous manner for it was in the figure of a man appareled with a large loose garment full of Majestie vpon the toppe whereof as vpon the shoulders the head of an Asse was put with a booke in his hand The feete which did appeare vnder the fringe of his Robe had vppon them these Wordes which were written in letters of gold Deus Cadeaux Christianorum Ononychites Now vppon this ground the Pagans build strong discourses in prejudice of God and of truth and made the Church so ridiculous and did so disadvantage the faith of Christ that it was not possible to do it more Vidimus in foro sayth Tertullian risimus formam nomen Quod colimus nos Deus vnus est But yet me thinkes saith he it is but reason that it should first bee vnderstood whether indeede we doe adore that fantasticall thing or no and men should first be agreed vpon the matter in fact before they should put their wits into such a full carriere and giue themselues law and liberty to say that which is sayd and indeede all that to which they haue a minde tearing in peeces that white and innocent Robe of Truth It is greatly to be feared least the passion of some particuler men may haue chalked out and framed some very deformed face for the representing of this particular which we haue in hand and for the shewing it forth in ill posture and with an aspect of great disadvantage and setting it also in a false light They say that these Priviledged persons haue a minde to oppresse the authority of our Lords the Prelates that they destroy the Hierarchy of the Church that they invest the authority which was established by the Apostles that they are tyed too close vpon the Pope and of this
life to the glory of God â—nder the authority and by the â—ommandement of so many Popes and holy Prelates even of this Kingdome of France If this I say be to trouble the Hierarchy if this bee a mortall sinne if this be a Schisme wee cannot indeede deny but that by the space of so many Ages the Regulars haue committed these disorders and that so many holy and wise Prelates at whose feete they dyed in labour under them and for them throughout their Dioceses that these great Prelates I say haue committed a very grieuous fault But so also on the other-side if these proceedings doe merit any returne of friendship if any kinde of sweetenesse it seemes that it were more honourable for men to shewe some little good will to them who desirâ— to imploy their liues and their labours under the authority of my Lords the Prelates to liue and dyâ— at their feete for the glory of Godâ— and the good of soules which arâ— very glad to finde themselues assistedâ— and comforted by them and doe accept of the little services which they can doe 16. O how highly do I commendâ— that good and gallant Pastor in Paris who did so holily and so ingeniously say as followeth Let us doe better then the Regulars and let us not busie our selues with crying out Hierarchy Hierarchy for infallibly if wee doe better then they wee shall conserue our Hierarchy and wee shall neede to be in no feare least it diminish or that wee shal bee entred into by a breach or that it shall grow to bee dissipated But till such time as wee see our selues in that condition why shall wee not serue our selues of the holy labours of so many good servants of God who are withall of our owne flesh and bone and of our owne blood and our brethren and who might perhaps haue beene that which wee are and perhaps better then wee But for the loue of God they would not accept it If all the World heere had a heart and a tongue like that of this worthy personage the Gallican Church would be a Heauen upon earth but as soone as men permit the infernall Dragon to whisle there and that he promise certaine divinities and sublime greatnesses a thousand divisions and a thousand sorts of miseries enter in which God of his great goodnesse shall remooue if it pleaseth him as I beseech him with all the powers of my soule to doe As for that which one of the chiefe men of Paris sayd concerning proper interest the offerings the respects the honour the power and such other things as these I wil bee farre from objecting it and so doubtlesse these things would not be good for the Hierarchy and sure there is no such matter amongst them Besides that this is without the compasse of my designe and I haue somewhat else to doe then to touch those strings which sound not well and it would never become me well to doe it since it was so ill taken at the hands of that great person a Doctor of the Genebrard de Hierarchia facultie of Paris an Arch-bishop and a man of so great reputation I had rather make Saint Paul say this word which issued out of an Apostolicall and Seraphicall heart Noli frater cibo tuo perdere eum pro quo Christus mortuus est As if hee would say alas doe not amuse your selues about your owne commodities nor about your owne greatnesse doe not hinder the good â—nd comfort and perhaps the salvaâ—ion of those soules which are bathed â—n the blood of Christ our Lord. Though this should cost you somewhat it will never cost you so much as it cost him who imployed even to the last droppe of his blood upon it If the Regulars doe good to your flocke will you bee offended with them for that if they doe them no good the World indeed is much deceived which beleeues and daily sees the contrary Salus populi suprema lex esto The Law of Lawes is the safety of the people and the assistance of soules and it is evidently seene that both the people and God himselfe haue blessed and as it were canonized a million of innocent actions of good Religious men who haue assisted a World of persons If I durst descend deeply into this matter and shewe you the necessity which the Church conceiues it selfe to haue of this succor so faâ— of would it be from tearing this Hierarchy in peeces that you would evidently see that perhaps it would haue prooved a meere Anarchy aâ— was sayd by a great Arch-bishop of France if the goodnesse of God had not sent this helpe But I will not enter upon this Discourse nor giue any manner of offence to any it sufficeth for me to plead the cause of God and of his servants shewing the innocency of their proceeding and the purity of their intention THE THIRD REASON That Religious and Priviledged men do abase the authority of my Lords the Bishops and become as it were insolent by reason of that power which is imparted to them by their Priviledges THis is the source of all our great and most important difference There is nothing so insupportable as contempt â—specially when it growes upon any â—an from his inferiour contempt â—hether it be truely offered or but â—magined produceth most prejudiâ—iall effects If Regulars haue indeede â—oÌ„mitted this sin it is certainly worthy â—f blame and intolerable but so if it â—e not true without doubt they who â—ould needs suggest this to our Lords â—he Prelates and perswade them to beleeue it hath beene a little in thâ— wrong and to omit the speaking 〈◊〉 any thing which may offend them 〈◊〉 will onely say that their zeale haâ— had a little more of the smoake theâ— of the fire At the worst hand theâ— is no mischiefe without a remedyâ— and when the objection were truâ— men should rather apply a plaistâ— with some lenity then teare off thâ— arme which hath some little hurt 〈◊〉 it and which afterward might do good seruice being cured and restâ—red to former health 2. But I maintaine that this is 〈◊〉 meere and most ougly slander anâ— I hope that by the helpe of God I shall make the matter so cleare thâ— no man of a good minde wil bee â—ble to refuse me his beleefe nor euâ— contradict me with reason There hath not beene any timâ— when the Diuell hath not endeauorâ— to put jealousie into the mindes 〈◊〉 the greatest and to make Religious â—en who are his capitall and irreâ—onciliable enemies to be suspected Who would euer haue beleeved that â—n France there could haue bin found â—ny Prelate whom Saint Bernard â—ight put into jealousie and paine And yet the while Iosilinus the Biâ—hop of Soissons wrote backe to him Ep. 213. 〈◊〉 terrible letter whereof the title â—was this Bernardo Abbati salutem â—n Domino non spiritum blaspheâ—iae The poore Abbot being stroâ—en with this word as if it had beene 〈◊〉 pointed stone or
it you see I say all this in fauour of Regulars on the one side and on the other a petty Canon of Bolonia who in fine is not indeede contrary to vs though he be so in apparance 14. Rendring therefore to my Lords the Prelates that which their quality deserues and their vertues require that which the Councell of Trent ordaynes that which use right and custome haue made to passe in the nature of a Law and honoring parsons and Curates and loving them with particular affection and withall exhorting all devout men to doe honour to their parsons or Curates to frequent their parishes to pay in all their rights and yet notwithstanding hauing those so authentical priviledges in their hands and the possession of so many yeares why doe men complaine so much of poore Religious men who very often reape no other thing but much paine and travaile Oh no man knoweth what it is to be a good Confessarius but such a man as is in a very ordinary exercise thereof Alas what a huge patience is needfull what kinde of longanimity what a condiscending what a company of repetitions must bee endured how many uncleannesses what hazards what a company of ill houres Is there perhaps so great pleasure in feeding uppon nothing but the sinnes of the people and with Saint Peter to devoure Dragons Vipers and a million of bruite beasts full of venoime I doe rather thinke that men should haue pitty of such poore men then enuy and giue thankes to these poore Martyres and Confessours for their paines they suffer rather then to arraigne them thus and make warre upon them Some of my Lords the prelates haue themselues beene willing to heare Confessions and they haue done it with great edification but wee haue knowne of very few who haue long continued in that course so tough so dangerous and so greatly wearisome is that businesse 15. As for us if wee were to take our turne in pleading certainely I would cite no other Canon then that of Omnis vtriusque sexus with the Glosse of one of our Synodes of France The Text sayth that a man must confesse himselfe to his Proper Priest or else haue his leaue to Confesse himselfe to another Now who is this Proper Priest who may giue the leaue Let us heare the Synode of Langres in the yeare of our Lord 1421. Ne remaneat aliqua haestitatio quis proprius dicatur Sacerdos declaramus prout etiam jura doctores declarant quod Proprius Sacerdos est Papa ejus Legatus Paenitentiarius Diocesanus Vicarius Generalis ille cui cura suae Parochialis Ecclesiae est commissa After this I beseech you what can more be sayd 16. There resteth onely now this complaint that parishes are forsaken and that consequently Priests studie not that men goe not to their Sermons that for spite they leaue all that Religious men deuoure all and that their Churches swell with people whilest parishes are forsaken to the great contempt of the Hierarchy of the Church That now few are found who will bee parsons or Vicars especially in Villages and therefore Bishops grow to finde much difficulty in furnishing their Dioceses by meanes whereof all goes to ruine and soules are damned and yet Bishops in the meane time are as much obliged in the sight of God to haue care of their Dioceses as the Pope hath of his and of the Vniversall Church Besides that Priests finding themselues not to bee imployed and that persons of quality goe to Confesse themselues elsewhere and that men make no great account of their Sermons they spend not their time in studie and not studing they giue themselues to idlenesse and from idlenesse growes the rest in such sort that Regulars are the cause of these mischiefes and that secular priests grow to bee irregular and it belongeth to Bishops to redresse these things who groane in the meane time under this burthen and know not how to apply good and effectuall remedies 17. Behold here great store of crimes hudled vp one vpon another and behold a grieuous mortall sinne whereof by mischance the Regulars meane not to confesse themselues to be guilty And the reason is because they knowe it not and they found themselues vpon this that non entis proprié non est scientia And they make good that they are not the cause of these mischiefes in the strength of these maximes of Lawe which is receiued throughout the whole world Qui vtitur iure suo nemini facit iniuriam For what shall it not be lawfull for me to doe well for feare least others do ill for spight What will you say if God haue sent Religious men into the world as Renatus Benedictus said to awake them of the Church who were sleeping And certainely these are the motiues which Popes assigne in their Buls of priuiledges and which deserue to be read and well weighed with a mind full of respect and piety God himselfe discouered this to Pope Innocent the third when he shewed him the Church as if it had bene falling to the ground and Saint Dominicke and Saint Francis who shouldred it vp so happily that they kept it on foote and restored it to the former place But let vs passe from this discourse which yet neuerthelesse is not impertinent For considering the incredible good which God hath vouchsafed to worke by meanes of Regulars ouer the whole world wee haue reason to praise his infinite goodnesse to render him all glory for it and to hope that they may yet be able to serue him in the assistance of many soules 18. O how I loue that good and gallant Parson in Paris whom all you my Lords do also loue and verily he deserues it who sayd thus after an Apostolicall manner and with a generous heart Let vs do better then Religious men and beleeue me the Religious men will be more affraid of vs then we of them The world followeth vertue or the opinion of vertue or both together that which we should doe Religious men striue to doe but let vs striue to do that which they do and their Houses will be more forsaken then ours Let vs adorne our Churches as they do let vs make learned and deuoute Sermons which may greatly edifie our people let vs liue as we speake let vs cultiuate the soules of our Parishioners let vs make choice of Priests of good liues let all go orderly in our Churches let vs lay all our interests at the feete of the Crucifixe and this will be the most powerfull meanes to defend vs and to mainetaine vs in our rights and to haue cause to feare nothing But otherwise to make such a noyse and to doe nothing but cry out without ceasing and to tosse Excommunications vp and downe and to be sending threats all this makes for nothing but discourse without producing any fruit and mens minds are so made that by this meanes they rather growe wild then soft and sweete and restored to the
way of the antient piety of France In fine this man liueth after this manner and not onely he but some others also who are adored in their parishes and all men do so loue them and they are so desired and euen as it were opprest with businesse that men cannot see them but with halfe an eye And as for those others who are euer crying out they breede more feare then enuy in such as would drawe neere to them and they estrange their parishioners from them who beleeue that there is some other thing in the businesse then the pure loue of God the saluation of soules and the preseruation of the Hierarchy I beseech God to preserue this most vertuous Pastor and bestow vpon him a great heape of benedictions and grant that all the rest may walke the same pace and doe so much good that Regulars may haue no more to doe O in how great repose and with how ioyfull a heart would they pray God for so many and so worthy labourers 19. Let vs come to that other exception that Benefices remaine voyde and that now in effect men doe finde no persons capable to fill them with especially in countrey townes and villages Now here I must cleerely auow either my simplicity or my too great credulity For in very truth I was of opinion that there had not beene halfe a Benefice which enow had not extreamle desired to get and to heape one vpon another and that not being able to procure them by any other meanes men buy them out right with ready money and that they vse a thousand trickes to serue one anothers turnes and that Simony was neuer so refined nor lesse apprehended to be ill and all the rest of that which common fame is spreading in all companies Verily I beleeued all this and I confesse I did it as a thing most certaine and without all doubt But my Lords since you haue told me the contrary for you haue sayd it I will resolutely giue my minde this law and I will make it stoope to this yoake that I will beleeue you without contradiction But my Lords you will pardon me if still I tell you that although I beleeue the thing yet I cannot force my heart to beleeue the cause which is alledged namely that Regulars are the cause thereof For how can this be Is it because they get their Benefices let them haue no more of them Is it that they diuert Secular Priests from taking those Benefices excommunicate them Is it that they carry away all the stations or Indulgences They haue none but such as please you and oftentimes they haue but the refuse of others Is it because they debaush secular Priests make them bee punished by their superiors and if they will not doe it you Is it because they doe not Counsell them to studie Alas some times they say that the Iesuites make too many men learned and too full of knowledge and sometimes the direct contrary Good God whom shall wee beleeue If I feared not to offend some and if I had not promised that I would not anger any I would acquaint you very clearely with the true source of all these miseries but I had rather leaue it to your thought and I will impose perfect silence uppon my selfe saving onely in this that I declare to you clearely with a strong voyce and with much truth that it is not good Religious men who are the cause of these disorders 20. So farre of it is that Regulars should bee the cause that a hundred Bishops will tell you on the other side when there hath beene some disorder in Bourgs and Villages they haue served themselues of Regulars to put things in Order as before and the successe hath proved that the choyce was good This is so cleare that it needes no proofe Whether this trouble the Order of the Church whether it bee against the authority of Prelates or against the right of Pastours or against reason I make the most reverend Charles the Bishop of Langres the Iudge who in his Synode after hee had commaunded the publication of that Canon Omnis vtriusque sayth these very words Nè detur materia fratribus Mendicantibus querelandi volumus quod in fine publicationis constitutionis praedictae Omnis vtriusque sexus c. subinferatur publice quod per hoc non intendimus praejudicare Privilegijs super audiendis Confessionibus eisdem fratribus concessis subjungendo quod fratres nobis praesentati possunt audire Confessiones libere confitentibus eisdem paenitentias salutares impartiri de commissis c. All that which he demaundeth is that men doe it vnder his authority and this is done and it is more then most reasonable that it should be so But in the meane time you see that it is he who is called the Proper Priest he who sendeth whom he will and who serueth himselfe of good Religious men for the helpe of parishes And doe you not beleeue that other Bishops haue the same Dictamen with this great Peere of France and Bishop of Langres who held this language 21. Let vs adde to this that if euer there were little cause of complaining vpon this title it is in this age of ours No my Lords doe not any longer feare that now Secular Priests will not proue such as you desire or that parsonages will be in want of men very well able to serue the Cures or for the seruice also of other Benefices For the fatherly prouidence of God hath sent a new Renforce by a most vertuous congregation of holy Priests who beeing full of knowledge and piety will supply all these wants according to the vocation which God hath giuen them to reforme secular Clergy By the example of their liues they will shew what is to bee done by their endeauours they will fill such places as shal bee voyde both in City and Countrey and they will yeeld good labourers will refuse to take no paines and will gladly spread their Charity ouer the whole World as they haue alreadie begunne to doe in many places and will also by little and little grow substituting excellent Ecclesiasticall men to make this Church of France flourish both in Villages and Townes One onely thing I feare that after men shall haue cryed hard against Religious men they will also beginne to cry out against these every one interpreting their zeale according to his owne fancy and banding themselues perhaps as stiffely against them as against Religious and alleadging a thousand things according to their passions and humours Now if this should happen you would clearely discerne even from that instant that the noyse which is made both against the one and against the other proceedes from some other roote then of meere charity and of a true desire of the good of the true Hierarchy To tell you more of this would serue for nothing to my purpose onely I will say franckly that there will neuer be good labourers enow