SERIOVS CONSIDERATIONS for repressing of the increase of IESVITES PRIESTS and PAPISTS without shedding of Blood Written by Sir R. C. and Presented to King IAMES of happie Memory Printed Anno Dom. MDCXLI CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE REPRESSING of Priests Jesuites and Recusants without drawing of Blood I Am not ignorant that this later Age hath brought forth a swarm of busie heads which measure the great mysteries of State by the Rule of their self-conceited wisdome But if they would cōsider that the Common-wealth governed by grave Counsellors is like unto a Ship directed by a skilfull Pylot to whom the necessities of occasions and grounds of Reason why hee steereth the Helme to this or that point of the Compasse are better knowne then to those that stand aloofe off they would perhaps be more sparing if not more wary in their Resolutions For my owne particular J must confesse that J am naturally too much inclined to his opinion who once said Qui bene latuit bene vixit and freshly recalling to mind the saying of Functius to his Friend at the houre of his untimely Death Disce meo exemplo mandato munere fungi Et fuge ceu Pestem {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} J could easily forbeare to make my hand-writing the Record of any opinion which neverthelesse I protest to maintaine rather deliberatively then by the way of a conclusive assertion Therefore without wasting precious time any longer with needlesse Prologue I will briefly set downe the question in the termes following Whether it be more expedient to suppresse Popish practises against the due Allegiance to his Majestie by the strict execution of the Lawes Touching Jesuites and Seminary Priests or to restraine them to close Prison during life if no reformation following The doubt propounded consisting of Two Branches necessarily requireth to be distinctly handled that by comparing either part the conveniency mentioned in the Question may be cleered with more facilitie 1. In favour of the first Division there are not a few who grounding themselves on an ancient Proverbe {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} A dead man bites not Affirme that such are dangerous to be preserved alive who being guilty condemned and full of feare are likely for purchase of life and liberty to ingage their utmost in desperate adventures against their King and Countrey 2. No lesse is it to be feared that while the Sword of Justice is remisse in cutting off hainous offenders against the dignity of the Crowne the misled Papall multitude in the interim may enter into a jealous suspence whether that forbearance proceed from the feare of exasperating their desperate humours or that it is now become questionable whether the execution of their Priests be simply for matter of State or pretended quarrell for Religion 3. And whereas in a remedilesse inconvenience it is lawfull to use the extremity of Lawes against some few that many by terrour of the Example may be reformed what hope can there be that clemency may tame their hearts who interpret his Majesties grace in Transporting their Priests out of this Realme to be a meere shift to rid the Prisons of those whom Conscience could not condemne of any capitall crime 4. Neither are their vaunting whisperings to be neglected by which they seeke to confirme the fearefull Soules of their party and to inveigle the ignorant doubtfull or discontented persons for if the glorious extolling of their powerfull Friends and the expecting of a golden day be suffered to winne credit with the meaner sort the relapse cannot be small or the meanes easie to reforme the Errour without a generall combustion of the State 5. Let experience speake somewhat in this behalfe which hath evidently discryed within the current of few yeares That the forbearance of Severity hath multiplied their Roll in such manner that it remaines as a Corrasive to thousands of his Majesties well affected Subjects 6. To what purpose serves it to muster the names of the Protestants or to vaunt them to be ten for one of the Roman faction as if bare figures of numeration could prevaile against an united party resolved and advised aforehand how to turne their faces with assurance unto all dangers while in the meane time the Protestants nestling in vaine security suffer the weed to grow up that threateneth their bane and mercilesse ruine 7. Sometimes the Oath of Supremacie choked their presumptuous imaginations and yet could not that infernall smoake be wholly smothered nor the Locusts issuing there-out be cleansed from the face of this Land Now that the Temporall power of the King contained in the Oath of Allegeance is by the Papall Sea and many of the Adorers thereof impudently avowed to be unlawfull shall the broachers of such Doctrine be suffered to live yea to live and be received of us for whose destruction they groane daily 8. To be a right Popish Priest in true English sense is to beare the Character of a disloyall Renegade of his naturall obedience to his Soveraigne Whom if by connivence he shall let slip or chastice with a light hand what immunity may not Trayterous delinquents in lesser degrees expect or challenge after a sort in Equity and Justice 9 If there were no receivers there would be no Theeves Likewise if there were no Harbourers of the Iesuites it is to be presumed that they would not trouble this Isle with their presence Therefore Rigor must be extended against the Receiver that the Jesuite may be kept out of doores were it then indifferent Justice to hang vp the Accessary and let the Principall goe free namely to suffer the Priest to draw his breath at length while the entertainer of him vnder his Roofe submits his body to the Executioners hand Without doubt if it be fit to forbeare the chiefe it will be necessary to receive the second offender into protection Wherewith a mischiefe must ensue of continuall expence and scandalous restraint of so great a number 10. Reputation is one of the Principall Arteryes of the Common-wealth which Maxime is so well knowne to the Secretaries of the Papacie That by private Forgeries and publicke impressions of Calumniations they endeavour to wound us in that vitall part Howsoever therefore some few of that stampe being better tempered then their fellowes in defence of this present government have not spared to affirme That tyranny is vnjustly ascribed therevnto for so much as freedome of Conscience after a sort may be redeemed for money Notwithstanding there want not many Pamphleters of their side who opprobriously cast in our teethes the converting of the Penalty inflicted on Recusants and refusers of the oath of alleageance from the Kings Exchequer to a particular purse surely we cannot presume that these Libellers may be disswaded from spitting out their venome maliciously against vs when they shall see their Priests mewed vp without further processe of Law For either they will attribute this calme dealing to the Justice of their cause the strength of their
party or patience or that tract of time hath discovered our Lawes importing overmuch sharpenesse in good policy to be thought fitter for abrogation by non vsance then repealed by a publicke decree 11. Moreover it is fore-thought by some that if these Seminaries be onely restrayned that they may prove hereafter like a snake kept in the Bosome such as Bonner Gardiner and others of the same Livery shewed themselves to be after Liberty obtained in Queene Maries dayes And if the losse of their Ghostly Fathers agrieve them it is probable that they will take Armes sooner and with more courage to free the Living then to set vp a Trophie to the dead 12. How soever the Iesuites Band is knowne in their Native soyle to be defective in many respects which makes them vnderlings to the Protestants as in authority armes and the Protection of the Lawes which is all in all Neverthelesse they insinuate themselues to forraigne Princes favouring their party with promises of strange assistance at home if they may be well backed from abroad To which purpose they have divided the Inhabitants of this Realme into foure Sects Whereof Ranking their Troupes in the first place as due to the pretended Catholiques they assumed a full fourth part to their property and of that part againe they made a Subdivision into two portions namely of those that openly renounced the established Church of England and others whose certaine number could not be assigned Because they frequented our service our Sacramēts reserving their hearts to their Lord God the Pope The second party they allot to the Protestants who retaine yet as they say some Reliques of their Church The third Ranke and largest was left vnto the Puritans whom they hate deadly in respect that they will hold no indifferent quarter with Papistry The fourth and last maniple They assigne to the Politicians Huomini say they Senza Dio Senz anima Men without feare of God or regard of their Soules Who busying themselves onely with matters of State retaine no sense of Religion without doubt if the Authors of this partition have cast their account aright we must confesse the latter Broode is to be ascribed properly vnto them For if the vndermining of the Parliament House the scandalizing of the King in Print who is Gods annoynted And the refusall of naturall obedience be workes of those that neither stand in awe of God or Conscience well may the Papists boast that they are assured of the first number and may presume likewise of the lasts friendship when occasion shall be offered For the preventing of which combination it is a sure way to cut off the Heads that should tye the knot or at least to brand them with a marke in the forehead before they be dismissed or after the opinion of others to make them vnwelcome to the faeminine Sexe which now with great fervency imbraceth them These are for the most part Arguments vented in ordinary discourse by many who suppose a Priests breath to be contagious in our English Ayre others there are who maintaine the second part of the question with reasons not vnworthy of observance Death is the end of Temporall woes But it may in no wise be accounted the grave of memory Therefore howsoever it is in the power of Justice to suppresse the person of a man the opinion for which he suffered conceived truly or vntruely in the hearts of a multitude is not subject to the edge of any swor◠how sharpe or keene soever I confesse that the Teeth are soone blunted that byte only out of the malice of a singular faction But where poyson is diffused through the veynes of a Common-wealth with intermixture of Blood good and bad separation is to be made rather by vacuation then by present incision The greatest byter of a State is Envie ioyned with thirst of Revenge which seldome declares it selfe in plaine Colours vntill a Jealousie conceived of personall dangers breaketh out into desperate resolutions Here comes it to passe that when one mal-contented member is grieved the rest of the body is sensible thereof neither can a Priest or Iesuite be cut off without a generall murmure of their Secretaries which being confident in their number secretly arme for opposition or confirmed with their Martyrs blood as they are perswaded resolve by patience and sufferance to glorifie their cause and to merit heaven Doe we not daily see that it is easier to confront a private Enemy then a society or Corporation And that the hatred of a State is more immortall then the spleene of a Monarchy Therefore except it be demonstrated that the whole Roman City which consists not of one broode but of a succession of Persons may be cut off at the first stroake as one entrei head I see no cause to thinke our state secured by sitting on the skirts of some few Seminaries leaving in the meane time a multitude of snarlers abroad who already shew their Teeth and onely waite opportunity to bite fiercely I will not deny that whom we feare we commonly hate provided alwaies that no merit hath interceeded a reconciliation For there is great difference between hatred conceived against him that will take away the life and him that may justly doe it and yet in Clemency forbeares to put it in effect For the latter breedeth reverent awe whereas the former subjecteth to servile feare alwaies accompanied with desire of innovations And although it hath bin affirmed of the Church of Rome Quod Pontificium genus semper crudele Neverthelesse out of Charity let us hope that all Devils are not so black as they are paynted Some or perhaps many of them there are whom Conscience or in default thereof pure shame of the world will constrain to confesse that his Majestie most graciously distinguisheth the Theory of Popery from the Active part thereof as being naturally inclined Parvis peccatis veniam magnis sever itatem commodare nec poena semper sed Saepius poenitentia Contentus esse 2. Mistaking of punishments legally inflicted commonly proceeds from fond pitty or the interest which we have in the same cause both which beget blind partiality Admit then that the Papall side affecting merit by compassion may be meerely touched with the restraint of their Seminaries that cannot be denyed I hope except they had the hearts of Tygers that in humanity they will preferre their ease of durance before the Rigor of death And albeit that PARSONS BELLARMINE and the POPE himselfe constraine their spirituall Children to thrust their fingers into the fire by refusing the oath of alleageance Notwithstanding we have many Testimonies in Judiciall Courts and printed Bookes that the greater part of them are of that Theban Hunters mind who would rather have seen his Dogs cruell Acts then have felt them to his owne cost Garnet himselfe also in one of his secret Letters lamented that after his death hee should not be enroled amongst the Martyrs Because that no matter of Religion
after so many yeares of preaching of the Gospell that the common people still retaine a sent of the Roman perfume The cause is for that the formall obedience of comming to Church hath bin more expected then the instruction of private families publique Catechising is of great vse but the first elements thereof are to be learnt at home and these which we learn from our Parents stick most surely in our minds What was the cause why the Spartans continued their governmeÌ„t so many Revolutions of times without mutations Histories record that learning their Countrie Customes from their infancy they would not be induced to alter them And in this our native soyle we perceive that the common Lawes which relye on antient Customes are better observed then late Statutes of what worth soever they be so doth it fare with the poore People which being once seasoned with the old Dregs of Papisme will hardly be drawne from it till the Learning of the true Faith be growne to a Custome I will prescribe no order of affâ—ires to effect this But I suppose that the antient laudable course by the Bishops confirmation will not be sufficient to fulfill so great a taske the Ministers must and ought to be the principall and immediate haÌ„ds to give assistance to so gratious a worke and in case any be defective in their duty the Reverend Bishops may take notice thereof in their Visitations Perhaps it will be thought a hard taske to constraine old People to learne the A. B. C. of their Christian Beliefe But how hard soever it be I hold it no incivility to prepare people of all Ages for the Kingdome of heaven By the order contained in the Booke of Common prayer on Sundayes and Holidayes halfe an houre before the Evensong the Curate of every Parish ought to examine Children sent vnto him in some points of the Catechisme and all Fathers Mothers Masters and Dames should cause their Children Apprentises and servants to resort unto Church at the time appointed There obediently to heare and be ordered by the Cutate untill such time as they have learnt all that in the said Book is commanded And when the Bishop shall appoint the Children to be brought before him for their confirmation the Curate of every Parish shall send or bring in writing the names of those Children of his Parish which can answer to the Questions of the Catechisme and there ought none to be admitted to the Holy Communion untill such time as he can say his Catechisme and be confirmed many times I have stood amazed to behold the magnificence of our Ancestors Buildings which their Successors as this day are not able to keepe up But when J cast mine eyes upon this excellent Foundation laid by the grave Fathers of the Church and perceive their children neglect to build therupon with exceeding marvaile I rest almost besides my selfe For never was their better Ground-plots laid which hath bin seconded with lesse successe It was not the hanging vp of the Bull of Pius Quintus on the Bishop of Londons doores or the forbearing to hang vp Priests that hath wrought this Apostasie but the idlenesse and insufficiency of many Teachers conspiring with the Peoples cold zeale that hath bin the contriver of this unhappy Web Untill the xith yeare of Queen Elizabeth's Raigne a Recusants name was scarcely knowne The reason was because that the zeale begotten in the time of the Marian persecution were yet fresh in memory And the late Persecutors wat so amazed with the suddaine alteration of Religion that they could not choose but say Digitus Dei est hic In those dayes there was an emulation between the Clergy and the Laity and a strife arose whether of them should shew themselves most affectionate to the Gospell Ministers hanted the houses of worthiest men where Iesuits now build their Tabernacles and poore Country Churches were frequented with the best in the Shire The Word of GOD was pretious Prayer and Preaching went hand in hand together untill Archbishop Grindals disgrace and Hatfields hard conceit of prophecying brought the flowing of these good graces to a still water The name of a Papist smelt ranck even in their owne Nostrills and for pure shame to be accounted such they resorted duly both to our Churches and exercises But when they saw their great Coriphaeus Sanders had slily pinned the name of Puritans upon the sleeves of Protestants that encountred them with most courage perceived that the word was pleasing to some of our own side they took hart agrace to set litle by the service of God duty to their Soveraign therwith start up froÌ„ among us some that might have bin recommended for their zeale if it had bin tempered with discretion who fore-running the authority of the Magistrate took upon them in sundry places and publikely to censure whatsoever agreed not with their private conceits with which crosse humours vented in Pulpits and Pamphlets most men grieve to be frozen in zeale and in such sort benummed that whosoever as the worthy Lord Keeper Bacon observed in those dayes pretended a little sparke of earnestnesse be seemed no lesse then red fire hot in comparison of the other And as some things fare the worse for an ill Neighbours sake dwelling beside them so did it betide the Protestant who seeking to curbe the Papist or reprove an idle Droane was incontinently branded with the ignominous note of a Precisian All which wind brought plenty of water to the Popes Mill and there will most men grind where they see apparence to bee well served 12. If without great inconvenience the children of Papists could be brought up out of their company it were a happy turne But I find it to be full of difficulty There is provision made to avoid Popish Schoole-masters but there is no ward against Popish Schoolemistresses that infect the silly Infants while they carry them in their Armes which moveth me to suppose that the former proposition to examine how Children and servants are brought up and truly to certifie the list of the Communicants and Recusants will be the readiest meanes to let his Majesty know the yearly increase or decrease of the church in every Diocesse And whosoever shall send his children or any of his Majesties subjects to be placed in Monasteries or Seminary Colledges or Popishly to be brought up in sorraine parts I thinke that for punishment both the one the other worthily might be disfranchised of the priviledges due to natural English-men so far-forth as any good by the Lawes may descend to them But not to be exempted from the penalties thereof or the Regall jurisdiction of the Crowne J know well that contradiction is odious and makes a man seeme ambitious to be thought more understanding then others In which case the Spanyard useth onely to terme him presumptuous whom he would call Foole if civility would beare it But in my defence I hope it shall suffice againe to revive my former