which it declares a Resolution to profess it and not to permit in its Territories the Exercise of any other Religion when instead of a sincere Accomplishment of what had been resolved by its Decree it is so far from performing of any thing of it that it acts dâ—rectly to contrary thereto I do not imagine you will pretend That State to be of our Religion by Virtue of a Decree which it makes and never did put in Execution You will tell me That the States-General are of our Religion because they affirm it and make a publick Profession thereof And I on the other side maintain that That is not sufficient for their assuming a name which they do not deserve since they destroy the external Profession they make of it by a Practice quite opposite and very odious to all those of the Religion If they permitted in their Country but one or two Religions whose Sentiments were not much different from ours and that in some of the less principal and lesser important Points there would be no great Cause for men to wonder at it It might be urged That Prudence and Charity oblig'd them to have some Complyance for Christians who as to the principal Part retain the ground-work of Faith though they have not received such Illuminations from God as might create a Belief of all our Mysteries But is there any thing in the World so surprizing as our finding That the States give an unlimited liberty to all Sorts of Religions insomuch That in the very Province of Holland there are more discover'd and acknowledg'd Sects than there are in all the other Parts of Europe and that there is not any Master-Heretick who has a mind to frame a nâ—w Sect but is there kindly received to teach and propagate his Religion and to make a publick Profession thereof Some Years since John Labadie the Apostate having been depos'd and excommunicated by the Walloon-Churches of this Country addressed himself to the Heer Van Beuninghen desiring to be taken into his Protection Van Beuninghen makes him this Answer That as long as he was willing to continue in the Communion of the Walloon-Churches he was oblig'd to submit to their Ordinances and Discipline but that if he would frame a new Sect he should participate of the Protection which the States granted to all sorts of Religions I do not question but you know the said person and are doubtless able to judge That it was not out of any Scruple of Conscience that he thought it not convenient to establish his Sect in this Countrey He had amongst his Devotes the Illustrious Gentlewoman Mrs. Mary de Schurmans and other young Ladies of more than ordinary quality but being in some Fear That their Relations might get them out of his Society which began to be cry'd down and to appear very scandalous he thought it his better way to settle himself elsewhere with his sanctified Company of both Sexes whom he took along with him Had he thought it convenient to make his Abode in this Country he would have augmented the Number of Sects which have their Establishment here and made some Additions to the Religions which have a publick Liberty in these parts But though this Liberty of Conscience is of so great a Latitude as I have told you yet I am in some suspense whether you know it to be so comprehensive as to extend to the countenancing and protecting of those Hereticks whom you would sentence to death if they were amongst you This I am satified you know That above a hundred years ago your Canton and the Republick of Geneva condemned Michael Servetus and Scipio Gentilis to be buâ—nt alive for the erroneous Opinions they held concerning the Trinity The principal Errours upon which they were Indicted are much the same or at least are not more dangerous than those which the Socinians maintain upon the same Mystery of Christian Religion Do you not then wonder at the extraordinary difference there is between the Conduct observ'd by your Canton and the Republick of Geneva towards those two ancient Hereticks and that which the States observe in reference to the Socinians who propagate the same Heresies or others that are equally pernicious Geneva and your Canton could not endure the one Servetus and the other Gentilis and pass'd their judgment that they both deserv'd death The States-General do without any Scruple suffer a great number of Socinians most of whom are born and brought up amongst them and never had the least thought of doing them any harm upon the score of their Religion Your Canton and the City of Geneva would have thought themselves guilty of a great Crime against God if they had not by death taken off these two Hereticks who hâ—ld such strange Errours against the Divinity of Jesus Christ But the States-General would think they had committed a great Sin against God if they should put any of the Socinians to death whatever their Errours may be Your Cantons and the City of Geneva thought themselves obâ—ig'd in Conscience out of their zeal for the Glory of God and Christian Religion to take all the Courses imaginable for the smothering of those Heresies which are so destructive to our Principal Mysteries The States-General have on the contrary done all that lay in their Power to countenance and to improve them Not many years ago the Books of the Socinians were very scarce Amongst those which had come forth into the World as they had been printed in very remote places and but very few Copies had been taken off so were there not any to be had but at very dear Rates nay most of them were not to be had at all The States-General have out of their special Favour and Indulgence and out of an unparallel'd tenderness of Conscience found out a Remedy for that inconvenience To satisfy the Socinians and those who were desirous to become their Proselytes they have permitted the works of Four of their principal Doctors to be printed at Amsterdam to wit those of Socinus Crellius Slichtingius and Wolfogenius At this very time there is publickly sold at Amsterdam that Library of the Socinians in Eight Volumes in folio which costs but a hundred Guilders Not many years since two hundred Pistols would not have purchased one part of those Works which at present may be had altogether for less than ten True it is That not long since there was burnt at Amsterdam a certain book of the Socinians but it was done no doubt upon the very Intreaty of William Bleau for whom it had been printed Not many dayes after that publick Execution he publickly expos'd the very same Book to sale and the more to recommend the sale of it and to enhaunce the Price of it he had got an Advertisement put into the Title-Page that it was the very same Book which had been by Order of the States condemn'd to be publickly burnt by the hand of the common Executioner I question not but you
denomination of Seekers It is the acknowledgment of these people That there is one true Religion which Jesus Christ has brought us from Heaven and which he has reveal'd to us in his Word but they maintain withal That that true Religion of Jesus Christ which we ought to profess in order to the attainment of Salvation is not any one of those Religions which are Establish'd amongst Christians They have some particular exception to make against every one of those Religions and they condemn them all in general In a word They have not pitch'd upon any one determinate Religion as being still concern'd upon the Seeking account They read and meditate the Holy Scriptures with great attention They pray to God with a fervent Zeal That he would illuminate them in the knowledg of that Religion which they ought to embrace in order to the serving of him according to his Will and for the acquest of that everlasting Felicity which he has promis'd his Children I should not think that I have given you an account of all the Religions and Persuasions of this Country if I should omit the saying of a word or two of an Illustrious and Learned man who as I have beâ—n assur'd has a great number of Followers and those such as keep closely to his Sentiments He is a man by birth a Jew whose name is Spinosa one that has not abjur'd the Religion of the Jews nor embrac'd the Christian Religion So that he continues still a most wicked Jew and has not the least tincture of Christianity Some Years since he put forth a Book entituled Tractatus Theologo-Politicus wherein his principal design is to destroy all Religions and particularly the Jewish and the Christian and to introduce Atheisme Libertinisme and the free Toleration of all Religions He maintains That they were all invented for the advantage and conveniences which the Publick receives thereby to the end that all persons subject to Government may live honestly and obey their Magistrates and that they may addict themselves to Virtue not out of the hope or expectation of any reward after death but for the intrinsick excellency of Virtue in it self and for the advantages which accrue to those who follow it in this life He doâ—s not in that Book make an open discovery of the opinion which he has of the Divinity but he does however so far insinuate it as that we may guess at his meaning whereas in his Discourses he boldly affirms That God is not a Being endow'd with Intelligence Infinitely-Perfect and Blissful as we imagine him to be but that he is not any thing else but that Virtue of Nature which is diffus'd into all the Creatures This Spinosa is now living in this Country His Residence was for some time at the Hague where he was visited by the Virtuosi and all others who pretended to more then ordinary Curiosity nay by some young Ladies of Quality who pride themselves in being more ingenious then is requisite for their Sex His followers are somewhat cautious in discovering themselves because his Book before-mention'd does absolutely subvert the very Foundations of all Religions and has been condemn'd by a publick Edict of the States-General and a prohibition put upon the Sale of it and yet it is publickly Sold. Amongst all the Divines of whom there is a great number in this Country there has not stood up any one that has presum'd to write against the opinions which this Author advances in the afore-said Treatise And I am the more surpriz'd thereat for this reason that the Author making a discovery of his great knowledg of the Hebrew Tongue as also of all the Ceremonies of the Jewish Religion of all the Customs of the Jews and of the Heathenish Philosophy the Divines of the Reformation cannot say but that the Book does well deserve that they should take the pains to refute it For if they still continue silent men cannot forbear affirming that either they are defective in point of Charity in suffering so pernicious a Book to be scatter'd up and down without any Answer thereto or that they approve the Sentiments of that Author or that they have not the courage and abilities to oppose them And thus Reverend Sir have I given you an acccount of the different Sects of Christians which are in this Country and which have all in a manner the freedom of Exercising the Religions which they profess I leave you to make thereupon what reflections you shall think fit It will be no hard matter for me to deduce from this diversity of Sects such convincing Reasons as shall prove what I have before advanced to wit That the States-General are not of our Reformed Religion In the first place it cannot be affirmed that this State is of the Reformed Religion upon the score of the number of those who make profession of it For though it cannot be precisely known what number there are of persons professing the Calvinistical way of Reformation which is commonly called the Reformed Religion in these Provinces yet this is still out of all question That the number of those who are not of it is incomparably greater than that of those who do profess it Having thereupon consulted some of the Inhabitants they have assur'd me That there may be a Tripartite Division made of the people of these Provinces and that the three parts may be something towards an equality The one is of the Reformed Religion another of the Roman-Catholicks and the third of the Sectaries I should never have thought that the number of the Roman-Catholicks had been so great It is certain that a considerable part of the Inhabitants of Great Cities and the greatest part of those of the Campaigne and of the Boors of that Country are Roman-Catholicks and there are assuredly at least as many of those of the Reformed Religion And if we put together all the Sectaries they also doubtless make up a third part of the Inhabitants of these Provinces If therefore the Domination and the Denomination ought to be deduc'd from the greatest part those of the Reformed Religion being at most but a third part of the people of this Country cannot give the whole State the Denomination of being of the Reformed Religion It cannot therefore be such upon any other account than this that our Reformed Religion has been Establish'd and the others forbidden by the publick Edict before-mentioned It might indeed be granted that it deserv'd that name if that Ordinance had been put in execution but that having not been executed the name cannot be justly given it But that being a matter requiring much discussion I shall wave it at this time and make it the subject of my next to you and so I shall make no addition to this save only that of assuring you of my being Reverend Sir Your most humble c. Vtrecht May 7 th 1673. The Fourth LETTER Reverend Sir YOu have observ'd in my first Letter That the States-Generall have always
Power superior to his might upon the reception of such a Command from it rebell against him That Prince having by this malicious information conceived a very great Distrust of all the Christians in general resolv'd upon an absolute extermination of them and that not any one should ever be suffer'd to live in his Territories All the Cruelties which the ancient Tyrants ever inflicted upon Christians are no great mattter in compâ—rison of whâ—t that Prince exercisâ—â— upon the Catholicks who were found in his Dominions He put all to death with grievous yet long-lasting Torments nay there were many cut off who were not Christians upon a suspicion of their lying conceal'd amongst them that so not one might escape his fury After so Bloody and Cruâ—l an Execution he put fâ—â—â—h most severe Edâ—cts by which he Order'd That there should never any Christian bâ— permitted to enter into his Territories The Dutch having crept in there as I told you before by a flat denial of their being Christians acknowledg'd afterwards that they were indeed some of those people to whom that name was given but that for their parts they minded only their Trade and never troubled themselves with any thoughts of their Religion They voluntarily made this Profer that they would never speak to the Inhabitants of the Country either of God or of Jesus Christ or his Religion nor perform any Exâ—rcise of it themselves and that they would so live as that it should not be known that they ever were Christians The Emperor of Japan finding the Dutch so well inclin'd was of Opinion That he had no cause to be afraid of them though they were Chris\tians since they promis'd to live at such a Rate as if in effect they were not such He thereupon permitted them to live iâ— his Territories upon the conditions which they had propos'd themsâ—lves The Dutch who never executed any Treaty when it was more for their advantage to violate it did very Sincerely and Religiously observe this with the Emperor of Japan because it is destructive to the Interests of Religion and highly beneficial to them upon the scâ—re of Trade They have ever since Liv'd and still do Live in the Dominions of that Prince without the performance of any Function of God's Service without having the Bible or any other Godly Book or Treatise of Piety for the doing of their Devotions in private But I am withal to â—â—ll you Reverend Sir That what you read of these Transactions of the Dutch in those remote parts of the World you are not so to look upon as if that so detestable an Agreement made with the Emperour was the private determination of a certain number of Dutch Merchants resident in those Parts but you are to consider what they did as done by the express Order of the Directors of the Company establish'd in that Country who have ratify'd it and promoted the execution of it All the Dutch who are return'd into this Country since that Treaty was made having publish'd it all that have any concern for Vertue and Christianity in these Provinces have express'd themselves much astonish'd thereat The Ministry made some stirr about it and there have been several Acts made in their Synods in order to the making of Remonstrances and Complaints thereof to the States-General I cannot precisely tell what Resolution tha States-General have yet taken thereupon but I know that they have not taken any for the breaking off of so Impious and so Scandalous a Treaty Their deportment in this very case may justly create a belief That they are of the Sentiment of that Renegado Jew Spinosa of whom I have already given you an account though he has not any thing of Christianity It is that Author's design in his Treatise called Tractatus Theologo-Politicus pag. 62. of the Latine Edition to prove That Baptisme the Sacrament of the Eucharist Prayers and all the external Functions of Gods Service which are and ever have been common to all Christians in case they were appointed by Jesus Christ or his Apostles of which he saies that he is not assur'd were appointed as he maintains but only as external signs of the Universal Church and not as things any way conducive to Beatitude or having any sanctity in themselves and that they who live in Solitude are not oblig'd to the performance of them And that they who have their Habitations in remote Countries where the Exercise of the Christian Religion is prohibited are oblig'd to abstain from those Ceremonies and may yet do well enough in order to a happy life To prove the Proposition which he advances he alledges the example of what the Dutâ—h do in Japan In which Country the Christian Religion being prohibited he affirms That the Dutch are oblig'd by the command of the Directors of the East-India Company to forbear performing the exercise thereof From whence it may be deduc'd That that Action of the Dutch in Japan done and maintain'd by a publick Authority must needs be impious and detestable since this Author who makes an open profession of Atheisme makes Use of it as an irrefragable Reason to prove That all the external Services of the Christian Religion are not at all contributory to or advancive of satisfaction and that men may be never the less happy though they never mind them But if without any regard to the Sentiment of that Atheist you consider that Action in it self what could you imagine in the World of greater horror than that some Christians who wâ—uld pass for such as are of the Calvinistical way of Reformation could ever be induc'd to make an express prohibition and â—n absolute retrenchment of all exercise of Religion to their people in a â—ountry that they may there have a quiet exercise of their Trade And therefore I hope Reverend Sir that however you may have an over passionate kindness for the Dutch yet you will not have the confidence to deny their being guilty of the highest impiety in Sacrificing the interests of Christian Religion to their Commerce and Trade and making no Conscience or being any way concerâ—'d to see so many Persons live and Die without the exercise of any Religion as if they were without God and without hope only to make an unhappy profit by the loss of their Souls If you have had any account of the dreadful Execution which was committed by the same Dutch in the Island of Amboyna in the Year 1622 it is impossible but you must acknowledg that there is not any consideration of Religion able to divert them from the exercising of all sorts of Cruelties when the Dispute is about their interest and profit There were not Twenty English-men in that place and the Dutch had there a very grâ—aâ— Colony and a well fortifi'd Castle with a good Garrison in it They accus'd the English of having a design to take that Câ—stle though they had neither Arms nor Forces They are taken into custody upon that pretended Conspiracy