Pope and a good Man Now this must needs be infallibly true because Infallibility it self maintains it to be so Thus you see what it is to be a Pope and may rest satisfied with this as a Corollary for all if horrid Blasphemies Oathes and Execrations if filthy Whoredom Adultery Incest Sodomy and Buggery if intolerable Pride Ambition Tyranny and Oppression if bloody Cruelty Butcheries Murthers and Massacres if sordid Avarice Simony and Sacriledge if Hellish Sorcery Witchcraft and Necromancy if blockish Ignorance Stupidity Gaming and all manner of Debaucheries if these or any of these are commendable and sufficient Qualifications for the Papacy then no Persons in the World were ever more fit to govern the See of Rome than those Popes that we have given you an Account of but it is now high time to take our leave and bid them all Adieu Sic explicit Actus primus Exit Pope Enter Cardinal Of Cardinals Abbots Bishops and Jesuits promiscuously ANd first of the Cardinals being next to the Pope and Superior to others in Dignity let us observe whether the Cardinals Cap shrowds as many Vices as the Triple Crown but here I must tell you for your Comfort before hand that you 'l find ne're a Barrel better Herring but like Master like Man like Head like Members and those as bad as bad can be nay which is worst of all 't is a stark shame that there is no shame among them The Popes have been Fathers to some but Silvester the first was Godfather to all of them for by him they were called Cardinals qd Cardines because they are the Persons about whom like Hinges the Church Militant ought to move repose upon and be supported to intimate unto us that those who attain to the Dignity of the Cardinalate ought to be so Exemplary in their Lives and Conversations that all Christians may be regulated by their Actions and the very Infidels perswaded to return into the bosom of the Roman Catholick and Apostolick Church Who when he is created by the Pope's Breve 't is in these Words Creamus te Socium Regibus superiorem Ducibus Fratrem nostrum We do make thee equal to Kings Superior to Dukes and our own Brother Innocent the fourth gave them the red Hat Boniface the ninth their Vestment anâ—… Paul the second the Scarlet Cap to signifie unto us how ready they are to venture their Lives and shed their Blood for the Honour of God and Service of their holy Mother the Church or which is more probable to spill the Blood of those good Christians who oppose their superstitious and idolatrous Worship Now how they deserve either Name or Habit bestow'd on them by his Holiness whose Infallibility is as much to be question'd in this as in any other Matter these ensuing Relations will soon convince you And first for their blasphemous and prophane Expressions and abuses of Scripture for we will be more plain with them than their Universal Bishop and not cloak Vice with the name of Virtue Cardinal Bembo was so much affected with and tied up to Cicero that he would use none but his Words therefore the Senate of Venice must be stil'd Patres conscripti Dukes and Dukedoms Reges Regna the grand Turk and the Sophi Reges Armeniae Thracum Excommuâ—…ication Interdictio Igni Aquae Faith Persuasio Nuns Vestals and the Pope Pontifex Maximus and he was so puffed up with this Conceit that he altogether slighted St. Paul's Epistles abusing them with the Name of Epistolacciae little idle Epistles disswading his Friends from perusal of them lest thereby they should corrupt their Eloquence 'T was done like a true Christian Cardinal to prefer Cicero the Pagan before St Paul the learned and great Apostle of the Gentiles And another Popish Prelate had so great a stock of Impudence as to say that St. Paul penn'd many unnecessary things which might have been better omitted and farther that if he had seriously considered the offence that might afterwards have been given thereby he would have been better advis'd before he had ventured upon the Publication of them Cardinal Baronius in his Discourse against the Seignory Baron in his admonition against the Venetians p. 47. of Venice blames the Venetians in these proud and profane words The Venetians doing the contrary are as Monsters and Prodigies of the Devil adding this reason to corroboratâ—… and strengthen his Argument and settinâ—… himself above the Angels to prove hiâ—… authority over them Know ye not thaâ—… we shall judge the Angels Abusing thaâ—… Scripture and wresting it for his own ends whereas it speaks of all the Faithful not Clergy-men solely who shall sit as Assistants to our Saviour at the last day when he shall pronounce Goe ye cursed c. against the wicked Sinners Bellarmine is so bold as to affirm that the Pope is Head of the Church Etiam Christo secluso Bellar. l. 1. de Pon. c. q. though contrary to the Holy Gospel I am with you alway unto the end of the World and in opposition to their own Canons which says expressly Christ is always the Governour and Head of his Body viz the Gl. v. non consonam Clem. Ne Romam l. 1. de Elect. tit 3. Church and although the Vicar fail yet he doth never fail it It is reported by an Italian Writer that a Cardinal lying upon his death-bed desired to be shriven and when his Confessor came to do that Office he told him that he must worship one God only who replied so I do and that God is the Pope for since his Holiness is God on Earth and two Gods are not to be worshipped I had rather adore the visible than the invisible Deity the Confessor rejoyn'd the Pope is neither God nor Christ but the Cardinal clos'd the discourse with this Blasphemy I would have thee to understand that if Christ were alive again and should take a Journey to Rome the Pope would give him a very cold or no reception unless he would humble himself so far as to kiss his Pantofle It was the devout saying of a profound Doctor of the Roman Church who did declare openly that if he were satisfied no Person had St. Paul's Epistles but himself he would commit them to the flames and burn them rather than they should be publikly Read. Next of their Riches Lasciviousness and Incontinency Baptista Fulgosius though a great stickler for Popery reports oâ—… Peter Riarius one of Pope Fulgos l. 9. c. 1. Sixtus the fourth's Cardinals that his Gownes the Tieks and Coverings of his Bed were all of Cloth of Gold and his other Furniture of Silk and that he feasted Elianor of Arragon as she was on her Journey to Hercules d'Este Duke of Ferrara with whom she was to be married very sumptuously I had almost said Royally where there was such variety and different sorts of Luxurious Viands and Delicious Quelqueschoses that the Banquet continued seven hours and that his Guests might
iâ—… must necessarily follow that the Roman Church cannoâ—… be the Catholick Church mentioned in the Apostles Creed and consequently is not the Mother-Church as the Papistâ—… would have her to be Thus the Papists have so overcharg'd this Argument to shoot at us as it recoils anâ—… flyes in their own faces And of kin to this is their grand Battering-piece oâ—… all which so thunders in the ears of all Papists and makes the Popes power so absolute and the poor credulous Papist so obedient and that is the power given by our Saviour to St. Peter in the 16th of St. Matthew beginning the 18th Verse Thou art Peter and on this Rock I will build my Church and give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whomsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whomsoever thou shalt loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven and these words the Papists understand literally that St. Peter's person is the Rock that Christ builds his Church on which cannot possibly be by the verses just following For there when our Saviour tells his Disciples of his going to Jerusalem where he must suffer many things and be killed and raised again the Third day Peter took him and rebuke him Be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee But our Saviour turned and said unto Peter Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence to me for thou savourest not the things that he of God but those that be of men By which words 'tis most clear and evident that our Saviour did not mean Peters person could be the Rock of the Christian Church For if Peter's person had been that Rock meant sure our Saviour would never have removed it behind him and it would be not only irrational but impious to believe that Christ would build his Church on Satan for so he calls St. Peter's person and it were as unreasonable to believe that the Rock of Christ's Church could be an offence to him as St. Peter's person was and as improbable again as all this that Christ's Church the Foundation of all Christianity should savour not of the things that be of God but those that are of Men as Peter's person did Therefore if you but please to read the words of our Saviour carefully you shall find they are most plain for Verse 13th When Jesus came into the Coast of Caesarea He ask'd his Disciples Whom do men say that I am and they said Some say that thou art John the Baptist some Elias and others Jeremias or one of the Prophets but whom say ye that I am and Simon Peter answered and said Thou art Christ-the Son of the Living God And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this Rock not this person I will build my Church that is upon this Rock of Faith that I am Christ the Son of the Living God I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Now this must necessarily relate to his faith not his person for the gates of Hell that 's the power of evil did prevail against Peter's person or he had not deny'd and forsworn his Lord and Master again and again and been afterwards proved blame-worthy by St. Paul to his face and indeed as blame-worthy as any of his Disciples So that 't is most plain that Christ's words of making him the Rock of the Christian Church related not to his person but his faith of Christ's being the Son of the Living God. And for the other part whereas the Papists believe a particular favour and power given by our Saviour to St. Peter of the Keys of Heaven that was given as much to the Eleven Disciples as to him as you may read in the 18th of St. Matthew and in the 20th of St. John's Gospel Vers 23 24. As my Father hath sent me even so send I you and when he had said this he breathed on them and saith unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained So that you see this power is general to the Disciples and not in particular to St. Peter more than to any of the rest as the Papists misbelieve The Papists have many such Questions which I am sure Madam you have neither the patience to read nor I the time to write but those that are most material of them you will find I have here presented you truly answer'd by pure Scripture clear reasons plain arguments and all in few words fit for the weakest memory or smallest pocket to carry about them For true reason doth not consist in large Volumes long Gowns or gray Beards for many live to One and twenty without attaining to years of discretion the degrees of Age being not still the measures of Wisdom For the World will never be without old Fools and young Philosophers And truly Madam for my part I cannot so much as think of the Papists Religion without wonder that so many rational men of them should rather fasten their faith of salvation on the pretended infallibility of their Church which is deny'd by most Christians than on the Holy Scripture which is granted by all to be the will and word of God and the very Foundation of their Churches Foundation as containing in it all things necessary to our salvation And we Protestants have at least this satisfaction and advantage that not only the Papists but all sorts of Christians that are in the circumference of the whole World meet and joyn with us in this center of Faith That the Scriptures contain all things necessary to our salvation which being a general granted Truth I confess I admire how any Papist can make the least scruple which is the safest Heavenly Guide the Pope or the Gospel If there be any rational man so extravagant as to put them in the same ballance and to commit a rape upon his Reason I shall only desire him to consider this plain Question If he were to go a Journey in an unknown way would he not think it more rational and safe to follow a certain true Guide that all the Christians in the World declare is certainly able and ready to shew him the right way than to follow a pretended Guide which the greatest part of the Christians in the World assures him will lead him out of it And this being the real difference between the Papist and Protestant in gross concerning the Heavenly Guide the Bible and the Pope I think I need now say no more because so many have already said so much and I am sure enough to satisfie any except such who will believe a crooked Rule is better to draw a straight line by than a right one And now Madam I shall only beg so much of your patience as to let me tell you that the plot and Heads of this following discourse I have Extracted out of the worthy Collingworth Before I begin
this Head of the Church stands affected he will soon guess at the foulness of the Stomach and give an account of the weak and crazy Constitution of the whole Body Ecclesiastick Do but observe the numerous and haughty Titles that he so magisterially assumes to himself as the Universal the Infallible Bishop of Rome the Head of the Catholick Church the Supreme Pastor the Holy one the Pope Christ's Vicegerent God's Vicar a Vice-god nay a God upon Earth and God knows how many more and then tell me truly whether in his Pride and number of Names he may not out-vye both Turk and Persian and at length prove as little a Christian as either of them who upon the bare Report of this usurped Authority have bestow'd on him two glorious Denominations the one calling him Rumbeg that is Prince or Lord of Rome the other Rumschah King of Rome First then to begin with the Blasphemies used by several Popes themselves which are so great that if Profaneness it self could it assume an humane Shape would not be guilty of and Lucian that Arch-Apostate were he now alive would if compar'd to them be accounted moderate Leo the Tenth Son to the Duke of Florence was a chuck-farthing-Boy Cardinal who was thought to deserve the Red Hat at the Age of Thirteen and 〈…〉 Pope at Twenty the unerring Bishop oâ—… Christendom in hanging Sleeves who before he could write Man or of Age waâ—… Father of all the Aged and truly hâ—… verified the old Proverb Soon ripe sooâ—… rotten for what a more putrid anâ—… blasphemous Expression could be belch'â—… forth by the Devil himself than that oâ—… his who when Cardinal Bembo quoteâ—… a place out of the New Testament replied Quantum nobis profuit haec Fabulâ—… de Christo What Wealth have we gain'â—… by this Fable of Christ Was not thiâ—… becoming Christ's Vicegerent And afteâ—… a Dispute de Anima 't was as good 〈…〉 Sentence of the Good Soul Et redit in nihilum quod fuit ante nihil Julius the Third a mere Epicure when he was at Table with several Grandees of Rome had a Peacock serv'd in at Dinner his beloved Dish and gave strict order it should be kept cold for his Supper but it seems some of his Servants through neglect dispos'd of it otherwise now when the time of his Evening Repast came and he found it wanting he fell into so great a Chafe and Rage for this Sin of Omission in his Servitor that his Holiness was guilty of a Sin of Commission insomuch that a more moderate Cardinal one of his Guests told him that it was ill done to be so passionate and fly out into so great a Fury for so small a Trifle but he fuddenly replied If God was so angry as to expel Adam Paradise for an Apple well might he who was his Vicar be offended for the Disappointment of his Peacock which was of greater value than any Apple could possibly be The same worthy Pope missing his Pork which was one of his standing Dishes for he was a great Lover of Pork and Peacock asked the Reason of it his Steward answer'd that his Physicians had given order there should be no Pork serv'd in because it was very injurious and destructive to his Health whereat he began to fly in the very face of him whose Vicar he boasts himself to be saying Porta mi quello mio Piatto al dispetto de Dio Fetch me my Pork my Dish of Meat in spight of God himself These Words savour of more than Lucianisme Paul the Third in a Procession at Romè where the Body of Christ as they term it was with great Solemnity and seeming Piety carried before him said That if the Company did not make more haste he would renounce Christ whereupon some Persons made up to them that were in the Front with all speed and caused them to mend their Pace Nay farther Pope Paul being in an open Consistory of Cardinals boldly told by one of them that he could not bestow Palma and Piacenza on his two Bastards unless he would inevitably purchase his own Damnation To this he answer'd If St. Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles had so tender an Affection for his Country-men whom he calls Brethren as to wish and desire himself to be separate from Christ so that they might obtain Salvation why may not I with as great Love and Affection to my Sons and Nephews study by all means possible to aggrandize them and make them honourable with the hazard of my own Salvation O the yearning Bowels and tender Compassion of this Holy Father to the living Monuments of his Infamy Poor cow-hearted Hugonot Where is there a Calvin Beza or Bishop among you all that dares or can show such strange and strong efforts of a noble and undaunted Spirit who for the Promotion and Welfare of his Children here dares damn his own Soul for ever hereafter Alas There 's no such Spirit among you What think you of Gregory the Seventh tho his proper name which Popes renounce at their Election was Hildebrand which signifies Fire-brand of Hell in the Tutonick Tongue as the Germans affirm and Chemnitius gives him the same Title calling him Titio Infernalis when he consulted the Oracle of his Breaden God threw it into the Fire before many Cardinals who could not withhold him because it gave him no answer as to the event of his War with the Emperour Henry the Benno Card. in the life of Hildebrand Fourth of France John Bishop of Port in a Sermon in S. Peters Church before a numerous Auditory being upon the profanation of the Blessed Sacrament said Hildebrand and we with him have done a Fact for which we Deserve to be Burnt alive meaning the forementioned Action Nay this Hostia was so Contemned and Slighted by him that he most wickedly caused Pope Victor the Second to be poisoned with the Consecrated Wine of the Holy Eucharist and yet Cardinal Bellarmine had the confidence to Justifie this Man as a Saint by Twenty seven Authors and another had the impudence to own him as a Canoniz'd Saint by two more which he throws into the Bargain to add to the former Number These are a pack of Saints of the Devils Canonizing undoubtedly What will you say of another of these Pious Arch Prelates who was the Person that caused the Emperour Henry the Seventh surnam'd of Luxemburg to be poisoned and that with the consecrated Bread given him by a Jacobine at Florence in the Eucarist And about the year 1154 his Name-sake Math. Paris P. 88. the Arch Bishop of York was poison'd in England with the Wine in the Sacrament What will the Friar's Devil do trow we if their God be so dangerous saith the learned Frenchman Stevens who composed this Huictain upon the very Subject Les Payens ne vouloyent mettre au nombre des Dieux Ceux qui an genre humain ètoyent pernicieux Si le Dieu de Paste est un Dieu qui
empoisonne Dont l' Empereur Henri tesmoignage nous donne Que dicoyent les Payens de ces gentils Docteurs Qui les hommes ont fait de luy Adorateurs Car si leur Dieu ne fait de meurtrir conscience Entre leur Diable et Dieu quelle est la difference i th' number of their Gods Pagans we find Ner'e rank't such as were hurtful to Mankind If that the God of Paste can poison men As the Emperour Henry testifies what then Would Heathens of these brave Doctors have said Who teach Men to adore a piece of Bread For if their God with Murder can dispence 'Twixt God and Devil what 's the difference As for Boniface the Eighth it is too notorious how he undervalued and vilified the same Host when he was Prisoner to the Gibellines of the Emperour's Platina Faction in the City of Agnania Julius the Second when he was defeated by the Earl of Faix and totally routed near Ravenna he out of extraordinary Zeal and Fervor I must not call it Madness or Irreverence threw away the Hostia and made it be trampled upon by the unsanctified Feet of the rude Multitude which hath been formerly taken by them with so much Reverence and Adoration Gregory the Ninth renounced the Gospel and embraced in lieu of it an infamous Legend compos'd Baleus li. 5. of the lives of the Popes by as infamous a Monk Cyril by name Thus you see how these Holy Pastors of Christ's Sheep behave themselves in Person and this is not all but their Canons published in Print and allowed are as blasphemous as their own common Discourse or that of their Parasites who are so far from punishment that they are loaded with Rewards asserting the Bishop of Rome to be a God. I 'll warrant you this Dist 96. c. satis evidenter Panorm c. Quanto Abbas bold assertion will frighten the Poor spirited Protestant to his Litany From such Blasphemy good Lord deliver us Pope Gregory is so bold as to couple abomination with the merit of the Holy Passion We ordain saith the Pope that for all such Cap. inter opera Charitatis despons l. 4. Decretal men who shall take common Strumpets out of the Stewes and Marry them that it shall advantage them as to the remission of Sin. Cardinal Bellarmine establisheth Bell. lib. 1. de Pontif. c. 9. the Pope over the Church Militant etiam Christo secluso Christ being secluded from him His Flatterers exclude all Patriarchs and Bishops from the Popes Lieutenancy to the Son of God in these words That he executeth C. quantol 1. Decretal tit 7. de translat Episcop not the Function of a meer Man here upon Earth but of a true God. Nay farther That the Pope is able to change the nature V. Gl. v. Veri Dei. cap. unico De jurejurando gl v. Vicarium in Clement of things That his Authority is heavenly that of nothing he can make something contrary to the old Rule ex nihilo nihil fit that his Will is sufficient for Reason that none may be so bold as to question him that he can dispence above the Law that he can make Justice of Injustice that he hath fulness of Power And elsewhere that every Creature is Can. omnes Dist 22. cap. c. subject to him that he hath the Rights of Heavenly and Earthly Empire Nay they proceed in higher strains and say We declare and define that it is necessary to Salvation Extrav commun c. Vnam sanctam de Majorit obedien See all the gloss of the chapt for all Creatures in all things and in all places to be under the Bishop of Rome Observe what the Blasphemous Parasite saith Our Lord would have been very indiscreet if he had Bertrand in gl Extrav com cap. unam sanctam de majorit Petri. not left a Man behind him that had an equal power with himself To conclude this subject take an abstract of this Oration pronounced in the Lateran Council printed by the Authority of Leo the Tenth in the presence of the whole Council Although the Aspect of your Divine Majesty Orat. Ant. Puccii Clerici Apostol 3. Non. Maiae 15 15 sess 10. by whose resplendent glory my weak Eyes are dazzled Again In thee alone the true and Lawful Vicar of Christ and God this Prophecy is to be fulfilled All the Kings of the Earth shall worship him and all Nations serve him Psalm 71. Then he saith Before and now the Universal Body of the Church is subject to one only Head viz. unto Thee Item Knowing that to thee alone hath been given all Power from the Lord in Heaven and Earth that thou mayest judge not only Spiritual but also the Earthly Powers of the World. If this be not like the Man of Sin to exalt himself above God let all men judge Another Flatterer was General of the Order of Preachers who received a Cardinal's Cap as the Guerdon of his Blasphemies It shall obtain if you will speaking of the Sess 2. in orat Cajetani Church and command it if you imitate the Power and Perfection of the Almighty whose Lieutenant you are here upon Earth not only in honour of Dignity but affection of Will. Gird your Swords for you have two the Spiritual and Temporal one common to other Princes the other belongs to you only And speaking of the Pope's Mercy It will render you worthy of Worship Gracious and most like unto God. And afterwards by the Mercy of God yours c. and so runs on with such a continued Series of Blasphemies as Black as the Hat could be Red which he purchased by his Adulation in this Hyperbolical Elogy of his Imperious Master But I presume I have tortur'd you sufficiently with this horrid Discourse therefore I close it with the Words of Seneca Magne Regnator Deum tam lentus audis scelera Tam lentus vides Ec quando saeva fulmen emittes manis Great God of Heaven can'st thou both hear and see Such horrid Crimes as these so patiently When will thy incens'd Justice send I wonder From thy Almighty hand revenging Thunder The next Vertues that qualifie them for the Papal Chair are Chastity Continencie and Abstinence from Carnal Lusts c. and how well they are gifted with these will appear by the following Examples Pope John the Thirteenth was a Monster of Men nay of Popes too who aâ—… it was articled against him in a General Council committed Incest with two of his Sisters deflowred innocent Virgins lay with Stephana his Fathers Concubine a lovely Generation like Father like Son with Raynera a Widow and one Anna with her Neece likewise He was a great Enemy to the Married Clergy and from him Dunstan received a Commission to be unnaturally incestuous Pope Sylvius left a brace of Bastards here in England the one got on a Scotch and the other on an English Woman nay whilst he was Cardinal he