this progresse by degrees the Iesuits request was presented to the Court of Parliament that had tenne Aduocates as Montaignes and Fon do confesse in their writinges in respect of 13. aduersaries Mont. ca. 22 Fon. ca. 4. which Fon reports were sixe boysterous mightie limmed bodies to wit the Vniuersities the Sorbons the Mendicants the Hospitals and the Parish priests With other foure Lordes of great authoritie namely the Gouernour of Paris the Cardinall Chastilion as protector of the Vniuersitie the Bishop of Paris and the Abbot of S. Geniueue Now can we be so sencelesse as to thinke that so many both of the better and meaner sort banded against them without cause in a matter of so great importance But what were the commons those which of late memorie plagued the Hugonots out of all measure raced the walls of Patriarch and Popincourt where they had theyr exercise of religion who by order of Lawe procurd the death of Gabaston the Captaine of their garde and protector of theyr attempts together with Cagres both the Father and the sonne So many Sages of the common people sworne enemies to heresie did sette thēselues against the Iesuits lying but yet in the suburbs of our ciuill warres against the Iesuits I say who then vaunted themselues to be the scourge of Hereticks Assuredly it cannot be but that all those great personages who then vndertooke the quarrell against them were perswaded that this Sect was extreamely to be feared as well by the libertie of the French Church and generall estate of Fraunce as of all Christendome Besides these two great parties there was yet another more strong mightie then them both namely Mounsieur Mesnil the Kings Aduocate in the Court of parliament directly opposite to them But for all this great multitude of partakers sayth the Iesuite the matter came not to open triall but was put ouer to coūsell as a plaine argument that the goodnesse of our cause did craue very much fauour Poore foole and young Scholler hadst thou been brought vp in the light of the Royall pallace or read the course of iustice of our kings as thou art nuzled in the dust of the Colledges thou shouldst haue knowne that the high Courts admit no open triall of great causes they haue no time nor leysure duly to informe theyr consciences As appeares by a like course helde by the same Court in the month of Iuly 94. And for this cause Mounsieur Marion pleading against the Iesuits of Lyons in the yeere 97. said that a defectiue and imperfect prudence of the yeere 64. was in some sort the occasion that the affaires of Fraunce degenerated with the time waxed worse and worse As for my selfe I will say more boldly with open face that this matter was in the yeere 64. put ouer to counsell by the wisedome of men but thys counsaile was guided by the hand of God who to take vengeance of our sinnes preserued the Iesuits as a deuoted instrument hung aside in the Temple fit for the future miseries of Fraunce To what purpose is all this saue onely this to shewe you that if I detest abhorre the Sect of Iesuits I haue no small shelters for my oppinion first the venerable censure of Paris the yere 1554. wherein were the greatest Diuines that euer were in Fraunce and by name Picard Maillard Demochares Perionius Ory the Inquisiter for matters of faith The first an admirable preacher whose body after his death being layd forth in his house in the Deanry of S. Germins of Lauxerrois the people of Paris for the sanctimony of his life did striue to kisse his feete the foure other his companions were extreame persecutors of the Heretiks I haue the great decree of the French church in the yeere 61. the iudgement that did second it and finally many men of marke and communalty set against them in the yeere 1564. Amongst these I may speake it for a certainty which I ought to beleeue because I saw it There was two honorable resemblances of antiquitie Solicitors in the cause Bennet the Deane and Courselles the Subdeane of the facultie of the Diuinitie Schooles in Paris The one fourscore yeeres of age the other threescore seauenteene both ready to depart from hence to giue vp an account of theyr actions in another world at which time euery man standes stricte vppon his conscience With them was Faber Sindic one of the wisest men that euer was among the Sorbons In the winding vp of all I will set downe Ma. Noell Brullarte Procurator generall the great Aristides and Cato of his time which liuing in the yeere 50. withstood the receiuing of the Iesuites I tell you this expresly to discouer how like the iugling of the Iesuits of our time is to the former For Fon is so impudent as to report that Ramus Mercerus after they became the Kings Professors reuolted from our auncient Religion and were folicitors in this cause and that if they had not encountred them they had won the field but to auoid sedition the Court was forced warilie to strike saile to the tempest by putting the matter off to counsell Well but yet thou lyest most impudently thou Iesuit Pardon me for it is very fit I should be in choller Neither Ramus nor Mercerus for theyr parts euer stirred in this although they tooke part with their brethren the Kings Professors because they would not separate thēselues from the body of the Vniuersitie Moreouer what likelihood is there that the mindes generally of the Parisiens could be so suddenly changed to take part with the Hugonots Mercerus was so farre from faction that hee had no skill in any thing but Hebrue wherein he spent all his time without intermission and became so great a Superlatiue in that tongue that by the iudgement of the best learned he was preferd before all the Iewes In all worldly matters hee stoode but for a bare Cypher But this is a Iesuiticall priuiledge to vnderset theyr slaunders with the time by newe cogges For if this Iesuit Fon durst he would say that the towne the Vniuersitie and the facultie of Diuinitie in Paris all the foure orders of Mendicants the Parish priests were Hugonots because they hindred the matriculation of this holy Order what other consequence can be deduced from his speech Oh singuler and admirable impudencie yet to be excused because it proceedeth from a Iesuit Neuerthelesse to shew with what truth integrity I mean to confound thē in their lying they caused Versoris Plea to be printed in the yere 94. he to bring the Vniuersity into hatred In the 24. 32. leafe of Versoris Plea saith first formost not that Mercerus but Ramus Gallandius were made solicitors in this cause but this was so far frō all likelihood of truth that euery man tooke it for an hyperbole by reason of the open enmity they caried to all times which accompanied them vnto their death This enmity Rablays the Lucian
name which they had once giuen as they thought vnto the truth Nay the matter proceeded so farre that this name grew to be imposd vppon the rest of that societie almost throughout all Portugall Trust me this passage is of such desert that I should deceiue these good men if I should not translate it into French to discouer with howe great pietie they haue purchast this title For Fraunces Xauier is honoured for a great Saint among all the Iesuits Was there euer any impietie or imposture greater then this that these two hypocrits to be counted Apostles bruted it abroad that two new supplies were added to their Sect to make vp the number of twelue Apostles and that vpon this false alarum they were called Apostles This was against theyr will saith Turcelline belieue the reporter For Xauier tooke speciall care not to loose his tytle when hee came into the Indies Tincel 2. booke of Xauiers life cap. 3. Therefore as before in Portugall so in India he began to be commonly calld an Apostle and the same title afterwards flowed from Francis as from the Head to the rest of his fellowes Tell me I beseech you whether this be not to renue the heresie of Manes whose followers were cald Manichees he naming himselfe the Paraclet had twelue Disciples whom he cald Apostles and for such he sent them abroad one by one to other prouinces to spread abroad the poyson of his heresie through their preaching To say the truth Ignace neuer tooke on him the name of Paraclet yet was he willing inough to be accounted for another Iesus by his company As I wil discourse to you in his proper place when I come to speak of their blind obedience He did not only take this authority power vpon himselfe But resigned it ouer also to all the Generals of his order that succeeded him who in like manner haue embraced the title of Apostles wherewith their inferiours were endowed in Portugall This is apparant in Rome and yet no man sees it but quite contrarie this Family is there had in honourrable regard vpon a wrong conceit men haue entertained touching their absolute obedience whereof these my Maisters make semblance vnto the Pope And shall we hereafter haue any maruaile to heare a barking at the holy Sea by diuersities of new opinions that fight against it Pardon me I beseech thee O holy Sea for it is the heat of my zeale deuoted to thee that inforceth me to vtter this speech Great and vnspeakable are Gods iudgements to suffer that in the Citie of Rome in your sight and knowledge there should bee a Manes continued by successions from one to another which hath not twelue onely but infinite Apostles dispersed here and there God will reuenge it early or late though it be by his enemies The Aduocate as a man much wounded in heart was desirous to prosecute this in a chafe when the Iesuit interrupting him said Verie well sir you are in daunger to be drawen drie Marking your discourse you put me in mind of those young Historiographers which imputed it for folly to Alexander the great that he would haue all men thinke him to be Iupiters sonne they attributed this to his immoderate ouer-weening neuerthelesse it was an excellent wise drift of his Can you imagine why so long as the country of king Darius was the marke he shot at he was too wise to take that title vpon him and chose rather to thrust forward his fortune by ordinarie meanes of armes But as soone as he plotted to passe into India a kind of new world deuided from ours he would haue the people perswaded by the great Priest of Aegypt that he was Iupiters sonne and from that time he would be adored as such a one not by the Macedonians his natural subiects bred in the liberty of a Greeke spirit But by the barbarous people with such respect and beliefe that from that time forward they should take him not to be a meere Prince but a great God that came to the conquest of the Indies this deuice tooke so good effect that he made himselfe Lord of the country without striking stroke The Kings Potentates and common people saying that their countrey was first vanquished by Bacchus then by Hercules both sonnes of Iupiter and that the whole rule and Dominion was reserued for the comming of Alexander a third sonne of his Thinke you our Societie followes not this plot you see we neuer tooke the name of Apostles any where but in Portugall but when we were to go to the same Indies where Alexander had beene we thought as he did that it was fit we should be authorized beyond others by a more ample sacred and maiesticall title which was to be called Apostles It had beene ill for vs to challenge it in Portugall if Xauier had not continued it by an entercourse of his companie after his arriuall in the Indies to the end he might be reputed another Saint Thomas sent thither after the passion of our Sauiour Iesus Christ And it were impossible to recount what conquests of soules we made there vnder this holy perswasion Ha quoth the Aduocate verily if this be your fashion I haue nothing to do with you for as when you entred Italy you borrowed I know not what of their Mountebanks so would you do the like of Machiauell in Portugall and the Indies Meane while you my maisters that haue bragged much of your knowledge in Diuinitie haue verie ill turnd ouer the history of the kings in the the Bible from whence you gather by a continued ranke that God tooke away the crownes of all the Kings of Israel as oft as they became Idolaters eyther while they liued or in all time to come neuer suffered them to descend vnto their children How thinke you I pray ye that God hath left the true Kings of Portugall without heires and that their Realme came into the hands of the first Prince that caught it That one Don Anthonio a bastard one Katherine de Medices Queene-mother of our King pretended title to it and last of all that one Philip King of Spaine became maister of it without any great resistance I will not discourse in partriculer of the goodnes of his title for mine one part I thinke that the best title he had was the iustice of God whō it pleased in reuenge of the giddie Idolatrie and blasphemie of the kings and people to make this realme without triall of the cause passe from one family to another by this holy title of Apostles attributed to these hypocrites And I perswade my selfe that the King of Spayne now raigning will one day fall into the like mischiefe if he suffer this impietie CHAP. 10. ¶ The impieties of William Postell a Iesuits BVt why should we thinke this blaphemie strange in them if within few yeeres after they tooke the title of Apostles on them some one of them was found so abhominable in the sight of God and man
perticular as our aduersaries haue sought often times to prooue against vs and yet could neuer doe it And that amongst all things whatsoeuer which the Clergie the Preachers and others haue done or said wee haue said or done farre lesse then they reported of vs vnto you and that they alwaies carried a tange rather of a bad glosse then of a true text in whatsoeuer they did or said For if they now dare at high noone and in the bright Sun-shine of our peace charge truth with a thousand inuentions contrarie to truth indeed what might they haue done then when as amidst all the rumours and foggie clouds of warre lying had his full course without encounter and where truth durst not shew it selfe For the time of warre is the time of lying saith the old prouerbe If happily wee may obtaine that of your Maiestie we doe thereby obtaine the vpper hand and the second accusation will be without force for it hath nothing to vphold it from falling to the ground with the least touch For by what argument can they prooue that we in particular are enemies against your Maiestie From what spring doe they meane this hatred must proceede And from what premises doe they inferre this conclusion Is it by reason that you are a King Why our Societie honoureth Kings and this is approued by witnesses by experience and by reason Is it because that you are the eldest sonne of the Church We respect this qualitie as much yea and rather more then the first Is it by reason that you are King of Fraunce Fraunce is our natiue countrey and you as King are our Father Whom shall wee loue if we loue not our Father and mother Is it by reason that you are a worthie warrier and Captayne of Kniges and King of Captaynes This vertue maketh it selfe at all times to be beloued both of frends and foes Is it by reason that you are milde in your conuersation wise in your sentences free in your manners stedfast in your promises prompt in your actions ready to labour bold in daunger forward in combat moderate in victorie and in euery thing royall These qualities cannot ingender or bring forth hatred but on the contrary they are amiable in all but admirable in the person of a King This speech was appropriated in particular to the Kings owne royall person and a little before neere the same place is another sentence by which this honest man the Iesuit vpheld that men had wronged them in imputing vnto them to haue as it were wrastled against the state To these witnesses dread Soueraigne we adde a second argument taken from the cause Whereupon we building doe demaund what true likelihoode there is in our profession that we should bee enemies of Kings and of their States Are wee so ignorant of the law of God that we know not that it is God that giueth them that by him kings doe gouerne and by him Legifers make and giue good lawes That both the name action of a king is a right of patronage proper to the Diuine and Supreme Maiestie and that kings beare in their royaltie the image of God and in this calling God willeth vs to obey them to honour and serue them for the safetie of their persons and the State And if wee know these things hauing both preached and written them and againe doe preach and write them how may it be that we haue so little conscience as to hate that which we beleeue that God loueth to dispise that which he alloweth to destroy that which he maintaineth to haue so little iudgement as to publish one thing and doe another Are we to be reputed religious Nay rather more heathenish then the heathens themselues then Canibals and Mainelnes who though they can do nothing but shew hatred and reuenge yet doe they notwithstanding loue their Princes I praise those two sentences Iesuit be thou whatsoeuer thou art and would to God that thy soule were as cleane as thy wit is fine and as I perceiue thy words to be smoothly couched together I cannot but loue thee inseeing thee draw to the life the counterfait of those singular and admirable vertues of soule bodie which shine in our King and with all I must honour thee in seeing thee set out the picture of Obedience which the subiect oweth vnto King And sure if thy heart and my penne agree I know thou wilt condemne them all that would haue attēpted any thing against the person of this great Prince who hath not yet met with his paragon as one who in martial prowesse hath far surpassed all others Thou carriest too noble a mind were it not that thou art a Iesuit to Iudge of it any otherwise Go to now I will shew thee that all that which thy fellow hath said in his Truth defended is but a starke lie for that which toucheth the deed of Barrier when he came to murther this king whom thou so much exaltest was contriued by the expresse counsel of thy fellowes copartners Not only then when he was but simply king of Nauarre but since he was called to the Crowne of Fraunce reduced into the bosome of our Catholique Apostolique and Romane Church If againe I shew vnto thee the generall rebellion of Fraunce enterprized vnder the title of the holy League which was first begun after conducted by your holy religious persons against one Henrie the third King of Fraunce one of the most Catholique kings that euer France enioyed what iudgement wilt thou passe against thy owne party I remit it euen to thy owne conscience yea to the conscience of any good Catholique that is not a cloaked Iesuit Nay further I say that these two parties are the onely vpholders of your condemnation and vpon them grounding my opiniō I take vpon me directly to shew that to establish you again in France were great lack of iudgement experience I wil therfore lay down these two points in order and first I will begin with Barriere afterwards with Chastell then with the Vniuersall reuolt of the which you Iesuits take it amongst you were the first authors within this Realme CHAP. 6. ¶ A prodigious historie of the detestable paricide attempted against King Henry the fourth of that name the most Christian King of Fraunce and Nauarre by Peter Barriere for the raysing vp of Iesuits I Will recite vnto you faithfully this historie of Barriere and that you may beleeue mee I will speake it vpon perill of my goods of my bodie and of mine honour for I haue learned it of a friend of mine whom I esteem of as my selfe which was then present at Melun when this deed was done and who spake twice vnto Barriere in the presence of Lugoly his Iudge who saw him executed to death heard all that he maintained during the time of his tortures vntill the last breathing of his life who handled the knife of the which I will hereafter speake who since drew out the
I wil seeke no more assured testimonie then this Aquauiua their Generall perceiuing that he could not make so good aduantage of these troubles as hee had at the beginning promised vnto himselfe caused the Prouincialls Rectors most auncient Fathers of theyr Societie to be summoned to meete at a generall Synode which he appointed to be holden in Rome This depended some sixe months in which meane time the King taunged himselfe into the bosome of the Church in Iuly 1593. From that time forward euery man bent his studie to mediate a good peace through Fraunce and to make way thereunto were concluded two or three seuerall truces the vsuall Kalender of a peace to ensue During thes◠cessations men had safe enter course frō one partie to the other This opportunitie doe the Iesuits lay hold on as being sent them frō heauen to worke an attempt vpon the Kings person Barriere is the man that freely offers himselfe to this seruice but without successe These honest Fathers perceiuing that all their practises as well in generall as in particuler fell short of their dessignes made shewe as if they would by theyr Synode make a finall end of the warres betweene the Princes In the month of Nouemb. 1593 was this decree made Vt ab omni specie mali abstineatur querelis etiam ex falsis suspicionibus This decree is at large set down in the accusation of the Iesuits in the yeere 1594. prouenientibus praecipitur nostris omnibus in virtute sanctae obediētiae sub poena inhabilitatis ad quaenis officia diguitates seu praelationes vocisque tam actiuae quā passiuae priuationes ne quispiam publicis seculariū Principum negotijs vlla ratione se mimiscere nec etiam quantumuis per quoscumque requisitus aut rogatus eiusmodires tractandi curam suscipere audeat vel presumat Idque serio commendatur Superioribus ne permittant nostros ijs rebus vll◠modo implicari si quos ad ea propensos animaduerterent eos loco mutandos quam primum commutent si alicubi sit occasio vel periculum se eiusmodi implicationibus irretiendi That there may bee an abstinence sayth hee from all appearance of euill and to meete vvith all complaints howsoeuer grounded vppon wrongfull surmises be it enioyned to our Collegiats in vertue of the holy obedience and vpon paine of beeing made vncapable of any office dignitie or promotion to loose their voice or suffrage as wel actiue as passiue that none of thē presume be he neuer so much therevnto praied and required by whomsoeuer to entermeddle in matters publique and belonging to secular Princes And be it straightly commaunded to the Superiours not to suffer those of our Societie to entangle themseles by anie meanes in such affaires and in case they shall obserue any of them to be thereunto enclined that they remoue them to another country out of hand if in that place there be opportunitie or danger to wrap themselues into such intangles The Iesuits make great vse of this Article in pretending that by vertue of this Decree they are restrayned from entermedling in those matters and I as great in affirming that notwithstanding this Decree they haue intermedled But ô holy blinded obedience vvhere doost thou now reside If thou be of the first principall essence of their vowes it must needer followe that all the chiefe Fathers of that Order are hereticks in their sect For since this great and holy decree Father Iames Commolet did notwithstanding intermeddle in those affaires who in a Sermon taking his text out of the third chapter of the Iudges wherein was mention of one Ehud that murdred Eglon and saued himselfe by flight After he had long time thundred touching the death of Henry the third and placed the Iacobin that accursed Iudas amongst the soules of the blessed at last exclayming with open throate he said We stand in neede of an Ehud be he Munke or souldier or souldiers boy or shepheard is skills not but wee neede an Ehud Wee want but that feate to bring our matters to the passe which our soules desire This was strōgly enforced against thē by Arnault but neither he that wrote the Defence against his Accusation nor Montaignes haue toucht it in their aunswer which perswades mee that they are agreed vppon that poynt Wallpole the Iesuit in the yeere 97. deliuered a poysonous confection to Squire there-with to make away the Queene of England his Soueraigne The Iesuits at Doway in 98 sent the Cooper of Iper to kill Graue Maurice of Nassaw haue all these performed obedience to this synodall decree Adiew religion of the Iesuits as I said to a friend of mine of that Societie seeing your obedience hath broken rank For you doe not onely disobey your particuler Superiors but that also which hath beene decreed in foll chapter by your whole Order Whereunto he wisely made aunswer that I did much misinterprete the Article which did not beare an absolute and simple restraint from medling in those affaires but in case the Superior perceiued there might danger growe by intermedling therein Si alicubi sit occasio vel periculum se eiusmodi implicationibus irretiendi This decree then is but meerly to blind the eyes of Princes that they may stand lesse vppon their guard then heretofore they haue done And to speake truth to deale in state matters and to practise the death of Princes are as essentiall parts of their function as their Confession it selfe CHAP. 14. ¶ Whether the Iesuits haue Spanish harts as their enemies charge them to haue or if they be for Who giues most I Heare many thunder against the Iesuits charging them to be Spanish in hart and affection they on the otherside seeme to feare nothing more then to incurre thys opinion in Fraunce I purpose presentlie to deliuer them of this feare and for a neede to become their Aduocate in this poynt not so much for the good affection I beare them as that the truth enioynes mee thereunto It 's true they fauoured the Spanish proceedings about the middle and end of our troubles which makes them feare least the memorie thereof should be reuiued but that their harts are Spanish I vtterly deny It proceeded not of any especiall deuotion which they had to the late King of Spayne more then to any other Prince but for that following the course of Iesuits who measure the right and iustice of a cause by the aduauntage of theyr owne affaires they deuote themselues vsually to him whom they suppose to haue the strongest partie and from whom they stand in expectation of greatest commoditie which is no small secret in matters of state for them which in their harts stand neutrall indifferent The same lesson was likewise put in practise in time of our last troubles by Pope Sixtus the fist a man of as great wisedome gouernment as euer came in Rome Such was the contagion of those times after the
cannot at once be a King and a Prelate and that his predecessors ordered the Ecclesiastical State which belongeth vnto him and not the temporall which pertaines only to kings Let him not inioyne vs to receiue a King who remayning in a countrie so farre distant cannot ayde vs against the sodain oftē incursions of the Infidels Neither let him commaund vs who of our Franchise and Freedome beare the name of Franks to serue him whom we list not to serue which yoake his predecessors neuer imposed vppon our Auncestors And we finde it written in holy Scripture that we ought to fight to the death for our libertie and inheritance And a little after Propterea si Dominus Apostolicus vult pacem quaerere sic quaer at vt rixam non moueat That is Therefore if our Apostolicall Lord seeke after peace let him so seeke it as he be not an occasiō of war And in conclusiō Hingmare shuts vp his letter with these words Et vt mihi experimento videtur propter meam interdictionem vel propter lingue humanae gladium nisialiud obstiterit Rex noster vel eius Regni primores non dimittent vt quod coeperunt quaniū potuerint nō exequantur That is And as I find by proofe our King or the Peeres of his Realme are not minded eyther for my excommunication or the sword of mans tongue vnlesse some other matter come to stop them to desist from prosecuting what they haue begun By which letters you may vnderstand that the Pope tooke vpon him not onely to censure King Charles the Bald for his disobedience in so iust and rightfull a cause but to make himselfe Iudge also of Empyres and Kingdomes wherevnto neither the king nor his subiects would euer assent auouching that the Pope could not confound Religion with State and that they were resolued to withstand him whatsoeuer it cost them as being a new law which he meant to obtrude vpon the land to the preiudice of our kings It may be some honest meaning man will say How doth this hang together You allow the Pope all primacie and superioritie in spirituall causes and yet limite his general power in your owne king though he should runne astray out of the right way For in respect of temporall matters I grant it but as for this high point of spirituall authority all things make against that position Whom I aunswere thus We acknowledge in Fraunce that the Pope is supreame head of the Catholique and Vniuersall Church yet is it not therefore absurd or inconsequent that our Kings should be exempted from his censures We see that all auncient Monasteries are naturallie subiect to the iurisdiction of theyr Diocesans yet are many of them by speciall priuiledge exempted from the same Our auncient Kings haue beene the first protectors of the holy Sea as well against the tyrannie of the Emperous of Constantinople as against the incursions and inuasions of the Lombards which were dailie at the gates of Rome One king alone Pepin conquered the whole state or Herarchie of Rauenna which he freely gaue to the Pope deliuering their Cittie from the long siege which Astolpho king of the Lombards had held about it And Charlemaine the sonne of Pepin chased out of Lombardie Didier their king and his whole race making himselfe Maister as well of the Cittie of Rome as of all Italie where he was afterwards acknowledged and crowned Emperour of the West by Pope Leo whom he restored fully and wholly to his auncient libertie against the insolencie of the people of Rome who repined and mutined against him And at that time was it concluded that the Popes elect might not enter vpon the exercise or administration of theyr functions vntill they were first confirmed by him or his successors I am certainly perswaded that hee and his posterity were at that time freed and exempted from all censures and excommunications of the holy Sea And albeit we haue not the expresse Constitution to shew yet may it be extracted out of the Ordinaunces of the said Emperour recorded by Iuon Bishop of Chartres Si quos culpatores Regia potestas Epist 123. 195. aut in gratiam benignitatis receperit aut mensae suae participes fecerit hos sacerdotum populorum conuentus suscipere Ecclesiastica communione debebit vt quod principalis pietas recepit nec à Sacerdotibus Dei extraneum habeatur If the king shall receiue any sinner into the fauour of his clemencie or make him partaker of his owne table the whole companie of the Priests and people shall likewise receiue him into the cōmunion of the Church that that which the princes pietie hath admitted be not by the priests held as cast off or reiected If then the table or the fauour of our Kings did acquite and absolute the excommunicated person from the Ecclesiasticall censures wee may well say that our kings themselues were exempt from all excommunications Our kings had right to confirme the Popes after their elections a right which the Popes alledge to haue beene by them remitted then why should we be more enuied then they if the auncient Prelacie of Rome haue priuiledged our kings from all excommunications and censures whatsoeuer Sure I am that Pope Gregorie the fourth going about to infringe that prerogatiue to gratifie the sonnes of king Lewes the Milde the sonne of Charlemaine the good Bishops and Prelats of Fraunce sent him vvord that if he came in person to excommunicate their king himselfe should returne excommunicated to Rome A peremtorie speech I must confesse but it wrought so as the Pope to couer his packing pretended hee came into Fraunce for no other intent but to mediate a peace betweene the Father and the sonnes as indeede he did and had he stood vppon other termes hee would haue gone out of Fraunce greatly displeased So much doe wee embrace this priuiledge of our kings as wee dare affirme that it had his beginning eyther with the Crowne it selfe at what time Clouis became a Christian or at least in the second line within a while after our kings had taken in hand the defence protection of the Church of Rome for so doe we find it to haue beene obserued successiuely in Charlemaine Lewes the Milde his sonne and Charles the Balde his grand-child And since in the third line when our kings seemed some what to forget the right way and that it was requisite to extend the authoritie of the Church towards them the Pope or his Legates were fayne to ioyne the Clergie of Fraunce with them In briefe as long as all thinges were quiet and peaceable betweene the King and his subiects the censures of Rome were neuer receiued against our Kings In our auncient Records wee finde a Bull bearing date from Pope Boniface the eyght the tenor whereof is Vt nec Rex Franciae nec Regina nec liberi eorum ex communicart possint That neyther the King nor the Queene of Fraunce nor theyr
not by his silence condemned our Accusers and giuen most assured testimonie of our innocencie If since that time it haue condemned vs that proceeded not of the due and formall pleadings of the Aduocates or of any aduantage of law which our aduersaries had against vs it is an inconuenience vvhich hath condemned vs in costs but not ouer-throwne our cause And vvithin a fewe leaues after In Iuly 1594 at what time the processe was reuiued by two pleading Aduocates they charged vs with Barriere and framed many like imputatiōs to agranate this crime against our credite and reputation But all these were but blunt assertions not sharpe proofes proceeding frō the tongue and not from the truth the Court made no reckoning of them and by their silence cleered acquited vs. Rene de la Fon followeth his steppes and goeth about to proue in like manner that the cōdemning of Chastell is the acquiting of all their Societie in as much as hee being racked and tortured appeached none of them But theyr intelligence was very bad in this matter For albeit this wretched fellow by his aunswers and interrogatories to him ministred spared the names of particulers yet did he accuse the whole Order in generall as I wil verifie hereafter more at large Moreouer these Iesuits seeme to be both of them altogether ignorant in the course of Iudgements pronounced by those high Courts The Court saith the first hath not forthwith proceeded to iudgemēt in this cause notwithstanding the sharp accusations wherewith we were charged Ergo by his silence it pronounced vs guiltlesse Furthermore Barriere his fact was laid to our charge yet the Court would not presently condemne vs Ergo the Court intended by silence to acquite vs thereof I beseech you seeing you professe your selues to be Logicians to haue the start of all men in scholasticall Diuinitie by what principles can you make good these conclusions Yet are they not strange to proceede from a Iesuits pen. For these reuerent Fathers are in place and authoritie to cōdemne Kings without hearing them and to abandon their realmes and lay thē open for a pray to him that can possesse himselfe thereof◠as they did to the last King High and soueraigne Courts obserue another manner of proceeding They heare the Counsell on both parties yet rest not thereupon but in such important causes as this especially they remit their iudgement or sentence to their better leysure and to theyr second thoughts The like course was held in their cause Arnauld and Dole vrged in their Declarations the tragical historie of Barriere the Court gaue no credite therevnto and not without good consideration In as much as it was requisite for them to view Barriere his triall or processe which was made at Melun by Lugoly that they might be throughly informed of what had there passed But alas Iesuit what is become of thy wit Thou doost acknowledge this Court to consist of the greatest ornaments of the Law which the world yeeldeth as elsewhere also that referring both parties to counsell they had proceeded without passion or partialitie and yet in the instant thou changest thy note challenging it to haue done iniustice in grounding their sentence against you vpon Chastell who had not accused you Iudges proceede indirectly when eyther they want skill to iudge or that their iudgements are corrupted by hatred fauour or other such partial affections Neither of these defects can be shewed in the managing of your cause as your selfe confesse therefore it is presumption in vs both in you to assay by Sophistrie out of your shallowe braine to elude this sentence in mee to endeuour by reasons and arguments to maintaine and vphold the fame Let it suffice vs that it is a Decree or Arrest and it is our part therefore to rest our iudgements there-vppon In all causes especially in those of weight and importance like this GOD is in the midst of the Iudges to inspire and direct them Many times a man that hauing heard a case pleaded on both sides prepared himselfe in his minde either to acquite or condemne this or that partie yet when hee heares the first Iudge deliuer his opinion hee changeth his mind yea oftentimes it falleth out that one word vttered by the first giueth new light to him that secondeth when as happely he that spake it dreamt not thereon and when it cōmeth to the casting of the Bell for by that by-word doe the Lavvyers terme the vp-shot or conclusion of all they gather and collect out of the precedent opinions a generall ayre or abstract whereuppon this sentence is built Doost thou think that Chastells fact was the sole occasion of your fall thou art deceiued The Court had wisely referred the cause to counsell giuiuing thereby to vnderstand that it meant not to proceed therein eyther with passion or rash hastines two great enemies of iustice In the meane time hapned this damnable act committed by one of your schollers the principals which were before disposed to your condemning were taken in hand a fresh in the handling of Chastels cause your cause is adiudged all vnder one The indignitie and detestation therof awaked iustice in the hearts of the Iudges which in your cause might peraduenture haue slept had it not beene thereby stirred and excited And in all this there is nothing wrought by man but by a speciall iudgement of God which wee ought to proclayme through the whole world It is well knowne that your Colledge was the fountayne and seminarie of all those calamities which we endured during the last troubles There was the rebellion plotted and contriued there was it fully and wholly nourished and maintayned your Prouincials your Rectors your deuout Superiours were the first that troad that path they that first and last dealt with this merchandise Your Colledge was the retreat or Randeuous of all such as had vowed and sold themselues aswell to the destruction of the State as to the murther of the King in which your doings you at that time gloried and triumpht both in your Sermons and Lectures The true hearted subiects who had the Flower de Luce imprinted in their breasts beheld this tyranny and sighed in their soules for they durst not giue breath to their sighes all their recourse was to God that it would please him to haue compassion on their miserable estate God suffered you to raigne fiue yeeres and more swaying both people Magistrate and Prince to trie whether there were any hope of your amendment in time The King was no sooner entred into Paris but the iust hatred of the people towards you brake forth the Vniuersitie of Paris stirreth against you and reuiueth their former suite which had beene referred to Counsell in the yeere 1564. the occasion thereof was founded vpon your owne fresh practises and lewd misdemeanours the cause is pleaded by two worthie Lawyers Arnauld and Dole heard with patience discreetly not iudged forthwith by reason of the waightines besides the heat and
destroy and pull downe the Pyramis for what boote were it for you to be restored vnlesse this stone be taken away whereby you are charged with sundry crimes which you esteeme false and calumnious Seeing therefore your intent was to commence suite against a stone I presumed that the hearing of the cause belonged absolutely to my selfe and to none other And that you may vnderderstand with what diligence and iustice I haue proceeded in the examination thereof I remembred that your cause had been twise pleaded and twise referred to counsell First in the yeere 1564. wherein you were plantiues suing to bee incorporated into the Vniuersitie of Paris Secondly in the yeere 1594. wherein the Vniuersitie of Paris were plantiues requiring that you might be instantly banished and expelled the land To be throughly informed of the first I required a Copie of Pasquier his declaration against you Versoris his Plea for you as also of the latter by Mesmll the Kings Aduocate By all which I found that the onely matter in question at that time was the noueltie and straunge rule of your Order being contrarie to the auncient liberties of the Church of Fraunce And being desirous to be yet further instructed in the matter behold certaine mutinous spirits present me with three bookes on your behalfe In the first were contained the Buls by you obtayned for your commoditie and aduantage In the second were your orders or constitutions diuided into tenne parts In the third the Examen or if I may so terme it the Abstract or abridgement thereof Out of which I collected many poynts which before time were to me altogether vnknowne a simple and absolute vow which your enemies alleage to be full of subteltie and heresie many extraordinarie vsurpations vppon the Ordinaries and Vniuersities a rich kind of pouertie professed by vow a blinded obedience to your Supâ—â—ion for as for that to the Pope I meddle not ther withal your principall Buls wherein it seemes you haue surprised and abused the sanctitie of the holy Sea Whereupon I said that that villaine whatsoeuer he was that brought these bookes out of your Colledges deserued to be hanged for his paynes It is not meet the world should know the secrets of a profest Societie It doth but open mens mouthes to scanne and descant thereupon at their pleasures to the discredit and disgrace of the whole Order But seeing the offender cannot be discouered I thinke it best that these three bookes be sent backe into one of your Colledges there to receiue open discipline for this offence This is not the first time that sencelesse things haue beene dealt withall For in that manner doe we read that the Sea hauing trespassed against Zerxes that wise and prudent king of Persia who had purposed to passe ouer into Greece vpon a bridge of cordes was by him condemned to be whipt As contrariwise the Signiorie of Venice to flatter and infinuate with the Sea is wont yeerely vpon Ascension day to espouse and wed it with a Ring which they present vnto it I assure you when I compared the priuiledges of the Church of Fraunce with yours I stood greatly perplexed what to thinke holding this with my selfe for a law inuiolable that housoeuer all lawes were wauering and vncertaine according to the chaunge and alteration of times yet this stood firme stedfast and immutable that we are to liue according to the lawes of that countrey wherein we defire to liue And finding your Buls and constitutions to goe slat against the liberties of the Church of Fraunce it bred no small scruple in my mind howsoeuer I was inclined or deuoted to fauour your cause Hauing viewed and reuiewed the bookes and euidences concerning the first cause which was referred to counsel I passed ouer to the second instance of the yere 1594. wherin I employed all the powers of my braine Herein you were not called in question for your doctrine or profession any more but for your attempts and practises made aswell against Princes and Princesses as against the seuerall countries wherein you are resident and especially against the Realme of Eraunce A matter full of waight difficultie and of daungerous consequence which caused me for the discharge of my place and conscience to interpose my selfe in this cause contrarie to that custome which I haue hitherto learned and practised For in other cases I receiue such packets as my Vassels and Subiects list to impart giuing credit thereunto vpon their bare relations But in this I haue taken a farre other course For hauing perused your petitionarie booke full of pittie and compassion I sent forth summons to all quarters without exception to come in and speake their knowledge in the matter I directed out Commissions ouer all countries according to the prerogatiue which from all antiquitie hath beene graunted me through the whole state of Christendome to informe me aswell by letters as by witnesses of what I thought requisite for your iustification commaunding all Iudges of what qualitie foeuer vpon payne of a grieuous fine at my pleasure to send me the whole processe aswell criminall as extraordinarie which had passed in your cause being resolued your innocence once verified and confirmed to cast downe this Pyramis and to preferre this sentence into the Inquisition As your selues sometimes caused the censure and determination of the Sorbone pronounced against you in the yeere 1554. to be censured by the Inquisition of Spayne For it is not for euerie man to iustle with your holy Fatherhoods And that which pronoked mee the rather hereunto was your booke wherein reading to my great discomfort the hard measure which hath beene shewen you by the Court of Parliament of Paris yet you acknowledge the said Court to excell all other in knowledge iustice and religion Vpon my summons I must confesse the truth there appeared at the first dash a great troope of French English Scottish Arragonians Portugalls Polanders Flemings Swethlanders who reported much more then I desired to heare And albeit the peoples voyce be the voyce of God if you belieue the coÌ„mon prouerbe yet would not I for the sequell build my iudgment thereon Your owne booke increased my scruple doubt much more then before when for your iustification you say that in the yeere 1593. by a generall Synode holden by your Societie at Rome those of your Order were forbidden to entermeddle henceforward in matters of State which poynt I could not well conceiue They are prohibited said I to entermeddle hence-forward in State matters therefore it is presupposed that heretofore they haue medled therein I cannot be perswaded that these deuout and holie men did euer apply themselues that way because such is the calamitie of our times that in our State affaires wee harbour commonly more impietie then Religion to bring our designements to passe And standing thus in suspence one rounded me in the eare and bad mee be cleere of that poynt for he that made The Defence of the Colledge of Clairmont in