Parsons it is noted that he writeth no booke discourse nor scarse any letter of these stirres wherein he doth not make mention of the Colledges he erected or recount some other good act of his owne Amongst many the man is thought to be ill neighbored in that he is thus driuen to praise himselfe and few do thinke it religious modestie to farse bookes with their owne commendations and to set them forth in other mens names an exercise that neuer any Saint or humble man practised By which course of his and some other of his dealings it is vehemently suspected lest he direct his labours to the making of himselfe popularly famous and prepare the way to a Cardinals hat By the erecting and managing of the Colledges he commeth to haue store of money for euery expence which otherwise he was like to faile of nor could he spend fiue or sixe crownes a weeke as by credible relation he doth in postage for Letters only Againe the same imployment and care of his in erecting and prouiding maintenance for the Colledges serueth his turne for liuing in places of concourse here there and euery where but in a colledge of his order A libertie which himselfe many yeares since so hartily desired as he perswaded some Priests to write to his Generall how greatly it concerned the common cause and the good of our whole Nation that he occupied himselfe in the affaires thereof and liued abroade in the world where the doing of most good should demaund his presence Moreouer by this oportunitie and by hauing the Colledges vnder his owne gouernment he inioyeth fittest meanes of picking out the finest wits of our Students and furnishing his owne Societie with them A seruice not vngratefull and which increaseth his reputation with the Generall and other chiefe persons of the Societie In briefe through these meanes also and for that he presumeth to be able to do much poore man that he is in making our next King or successor to her Maiestie he getteth acquaintance with men of State Princes and Kings and entreth conference with them about the same An affaire of no small contentation to the outward man whom he is thought not as yet to haue fully cast off and as potent and forward a help as ordinarily any can be of working his owne aduancement and of gaining a scarlet cap. These and other like respects are suspected to be the ends his trauels tend vnto and the cause of such a suspition seemeth doubtlesse to be strong For if he sincerely intended the good of our Church and the increase of learning he would not haue dealt with one of the ancientest Priests of our Nation about the dissoluing of the Colledge at Reames nor would he haue suppressed the Lectures of the Colledge at Doway whereby in short time through the discontinuance of the studie and practise of schole diuinitie we shall haue no one of our secular Clergie fit to reade or grounded in the facultie but all esteeme and helps that way must come from the Iesuites a great honor to them and dishonor to our Clergie Further if Father Parsons affected to haue our Seminary Priests learned a thing more requisite in the secular then in the Religious neither he nor any other Iesuit-Rector of the Colledges would send away the young Priests if they resolued not to be Iesuites or did not shew themselues zealous for them before the finishing of their whole course Neither would they vpon dislike turne sufficient able wits for the studie of schole doctrine to positiue diuinitie In few words if the credit of secular Priests or the good of many were sought for and not rather the drawing of all things to the Iesuites more speciall reputation and aduancement how could Father Parsons and some other English Iesuites make a Monipolium ingrossing all things into their owne hands so much as no Priest in our country can send ouer his friend how perfectly soeuer he know him to be fit to any of the Colledges except the Iesuites be the meane and doers thereof or one other whome they most absolutely direct or rather rule as the maister doth the seruant Vndoubtedly this was not the custome whiles good Doctor Allen was President nor yet whiles he liued Cardinall and if such policies and seeking to sway all things this latter being a demonstration of highest ambition do long stand or redound to the authors credit in the end many are mistaken who rather feare these sayings of holy scripture to be thereby the sooner exemplified Comprehendam sapientes in austutia eorum deposuit potentes de sede exultauit 1. Cor. 3. Luke 1. humiles God will comprehend the wise in their owne wiles and put downe the mightie from the seate and exalt the humble An other thing which the Author of the Apollogie obiecteth against Fol. 99. me in particular and whereof our Archpriest also would make In his Letter to me vndated beginning Sir I admonish you to reflect c. a hard prognostication is for that I had left the religious order of the Carthusians No doubt they carry a good will to discredit me and the terme scope drift of the exception do make it euident Yea some of their speciall fauorites whome I can name haue so earnestly labored to wound me for this cause in the conceits of my best friends as they haue spared no perswasion to withdrawe their affection and good opinion from me The Apollogie affirmeth that Maister Mush returning Vbi supra into England and the Cardinall soone after dying he ioyned with an other of his owne humor that had left an other religion namely the Carthugeans and they two with some few other determined to make a new Hierarchie of their owne calling it an association of Clergie men with two Superiours as it were Archbishops the one for the South and the other for the North. The vntruths that abound in the Apollogy are very many equall to the number of the leaues or perhaps of the pages if not exceeding either Amongst which rable the passage recited hudleth vp foure fayles in one For neither did Maister Mush after his returne into England ioyne himselfe with me neither did we two with some few others determine to make the Hierachie mentioned and lesse to make the same with two Superiours and least of all to make these two Superiours as it were Archbishops the one for the South the other for the North. The falcitie of euery member of this quadrible auowance appeareth manifest in this onely for that I neuer saw Maister Mush nor he me nor had any conference each with other by letters or messengers after his arriuall from Rome vntill some fortnight before the comming ouer of his Holines Breue in confirmation of the Arch-priests Authoritie more thē tweluemonths after the first institution thereof So that neither seeing Maister Mush nor hauing any correspondēce with him nor he with me during the whole time that the association was in
that place Againe whatsoeuer it be that he accuseth me of as what it is I cannot imagine he must needes take the same from the mouth of another or borrow it from his owne inuention because he neuer knew me nor I him or euer had conference each with other by messenger word letter or otherwise Neuerthelesse sith Fa. Iones layes his confession to my charge in the discurteous manner he doth I must needes thinke or hold the Father very inconsiderate that there is some surer proofe for the veritie of that I stand accused of then the only presumption of Fishers bare confession Or if there be not as I request all that may be brought to be brought against me the measure is very hard which is offered in that his sole word must be a currant truth against me whome your selues condemne and are bound thereunto vnder losse of much credit for a very vnhonest malicious and lying person You affirme that his Holines of late hath ordained a certaine gouernement among vs and that Maister Blackwell is our lawfull Superior made by God Good sir if you loue not our errors or more if you loue peace Note these well proue your affirmations and you end the difference For vndoubtedlie our soules beare witnesse that you are faultilie mistaken if you take vs for such that will neither obey what our holie Father the Pope appointeth or what God himselfe ordaineth Belieue me I beseech you that the reason why we delay in the manner we do to subiect our selues to the new authoritie is not because we are in vaine puffed vp by the sense of the flesh as you wrongfullie insinuate but because we neither see nor can heare of any Bull Breue or other authenticall instrument comming from his Holines for attestation and declaration thereof Which forme of processe being euer the customarie vse of the Sea Apostolicke euen in matters of much lesse moment and incomparablie of lesser question and failing in this maketh vs greatlie to misdoubt or rather putteth vs in vndoubted assurance that his Holines was not the author thereof nor the appointer His holie Fatherhood well knowes we haue no Church-liuings but liue only of almes and that our miseries are in way of no other case then the prison torture and gallowes euery miscreant hauing sufficient authoritie to apprehend vs so that for his Holines to increase the number of our pressures to make the burden of our crosses more heauie not only by denying vs the choice of our owne Superior a freedome and benefite which the Cleargie euery where else and by the Canons of holie Church enioyeth but by imposing also a Superior vpon vs without all our vnderstanding and not with the least notice of our liking seemeth to our iudgements to be a course of much greater seueritie then the mildnes of his Holines nature and the ripe wisedome of his aged experience would euer designe and lesse enact and put in vre against vs. Further his Holines being for these fortie yeares space our immediate Bishop how can we without expresse certificate of such his Holines pleasure admit another betweene his blessed Fatherhood and vs vnlesse we would thereby condemne our selues of want of loue and dutie towards his Holines and of forgetfulnes for seuerall rich benefits receiued They be in England who haue heard his Holines to say that he would not appoint a gouernment in England before to vse his owne words the good Priests there should aduertise what kind of gouernment they thought fittest and best liked Therefore affirme what you list and tell your fauorites and the vulgar neuer so liberallie and vntrulie to prattle of our misconceiued disobedience yet we may not beleeue the new authoritie to be the ordināce of that sea hauing by the record of many his Holines owne words to the contrarie There is an especiall prouiso in the Cardinals letter that if it happen the Archpresbyter to dye or be taken then the next senior assistant to supply that roome till there be another chosen by the Cardinall Verily if we had no other ground at all but the hardnes of this prouiso there were cause enough to assure our selues that his Holines had no part in the new authoritie For who weeting to the abundance of his fatherlie loue care and mild proceedings can winne his thoughts or once to feare that his wisedome and rare clemencie would alike grieuouslie loade our miseries with so perpetuall a burden as neither first nor last nor at any time to haue the choosing of our owne Superior but must in all changes stand to the appointment of a stranger vnacquainted with vs and our State and who taketh wholie his aduertisements or direction from others that are not of our companie but incorporate to another body and who more labour the glorie and aduancement of their owne peculiar as reason leadeth then the good of others from whom they are by profession distinguished Yea those that are the Cardinals informers and whome his Grace most willinglie heareth and followeth are the chiefe parties of the one side in the difference for ouerruling whereof the new authoritie was first thought on sollicited and at vnawares brought vpon vs. Now the truth of the particular being thus as euery one sees who is acquainted with the issue of matters and will not close his eye I appeale euen to the good opinion which your selfe holds of his holines disposition indifferencie and iustice whether if he had bin the institutor of this new authoritie his wisedome and tender conscience would haue permitted the adding of so large a prerogatiue or truer of so vnequall a prouiso I thinke it an attribute of iustice if not a decree in nature that the bond of obedience ought euermore to bring some commoditie with it as the obedience of the seruant to his maister receiueth wages the obedience of the child to his parent the benefit of education the obedience of the wife to her husband her maintenance and dowrie the obedience of the religious to his superior prouision of all necessaries the obedience of the Priest to his Bishop iurisdiction and the appurtenances the obedience of the subiect to his Soueraigne protection and the administration of iustice and generally wheresoeuer obedience is due there followeth a correlatiue I meane a good depending which maketh it due You would haue vs to obey and it is the scope of all your trauailes I praye name vs the good that commeth to vs thereby the whole authoritie consisting only in the taking away of faculties and in distressing more our miseries If the supposed authoritie had bin the action of the Pope no doubt his Holines consideration for drawing mens obedience the sooner thereunto would haue giuen to it some indulgence at least if no temporall or other kind of spirituall commoditie I shall be driuen to touch this point in mo places being the directing cliffe to all and therefore do omit here to stay longer vpon it hoping what is alreadie said
Right excellent also to this purpose are the wordes of y Serm. 1. de dedicat Eccle. Damianus Decretales paginae sanctorum patrum instituta decernunt non esse differendam post Baptismum sacramenti huius virtutem ne nos inermes inueniat fraudulentus ille contortor à quo nemo vnquà m nocendi inducias extorsit Delibuti igitur vtriâ—squè roris vnguento illo sanati confortati esto securiùs descendamus ad singulare certamen The decretall pages the institutes of holy fathers haue decreed that after Baptisme the vertue of this Sacrament is not to be deferred least that guilefull racker of our soules Sathan find vs vnarmed from whom no man euer hath wrested the league of truce that he should not hurt him Being therefore annointed with the sweet oyle of both deawes Baptisme and Confirmation in that healed in this strengthned we may the more securely cope or descend to handy gripes with our ghostly enemie To conclude z Hist Eccle. lib. 6. ca. 35. ex Epi. Cornelij Pont. ad FabiuÌ„ Eusebius attributeth such exceeding force and working efficacie to this Sacrament as he doubted not to say that Nouatus who after became an Ach-heretike could not merit the grace and assistance of the holy Ghost in reason of his wretchlesnesse and lacke of deuotion in that being baptized in a daungerous fit of sickenesse he was not likewise at that time signed and fortified with the sacrament of confirmation § And thus much of the importance of our intentioÌ„ first truth which as we verily thought was kept secret from the vnderstanding of his Holinesse wishing euery one maturely to consider of that litle which is said and what Diuines do further adde in this point for exciting all Christians not onely most heartily to affect but most studiously also to get timely ministred to themselues Another truth secreted was the great contention and scandalous The second truth secreted debate raigning betweene the Iesuits and some of the secular Priests by reason of an affected superioritie which the Iesuits after the decease of good Cardinall Allen laboured to place in father Weston ouer his fâ—llow prisoners in Wisbish by much his elders as in yeares so in sufferance also for the Catholicke cause And it was not thought that this maner of seeking to beare rule would take vp so or consine it self in that castle The humour was deemed to be more actiue and that it would soone enlarge in selfe to the Priests abroad Neither was this opinion conceiued without cause in respect of the question that master Warpoole now a knowne Iesuit and Father Minister at Valodelide proposed to a student in Rome demaunding of him what he would say when no Priest should find harbour or welcome any where in England vnlesse he came recommended by some of the Iesuits And after the secret Iesuit for so he was at the time when he vsed thâ—se speeches had continued a long discourse in shewing the ample and manifold conueniences that would ensue vpoÌ„ so good an order he would needs without deniall haue the student at the end of his tale to declare also his conceit in the matter and when by earnest importunitie he had wonne him therunto and the student had shewed plainly his auersion from liking any such practise or soueraigntie ouer the Priestes the Iesuit incontinent bewraied no litle discontentment Againe that which yet brought more euidence to the matter was a Treatise which a speciall fauourite of the Iesuites compyled and which was giuen abroade to others to reade wherein it was discoursed that none were sit to haue the guiding of soules nay speciall heede to be taken that none such be chosen to be guides who were not addicted to Religion or had not that way relation or dependance Which iniurious and disgracefull assertion being excepted against by one or moe of the auncientest Priests in our Realme was notwithstanding so little reuersed or disliked as more stiffely then before maintained both by the Author of the Treatise and by the chiefe of the society with some other of the same company Now then these and moe like particulars which if neede require will be easily produced yeelding sufficient coniecture if not remonstrance of the heartie desire the Iesuits had to haue the secular Priests vnder their direction we thought meete the sooner also for auoiding the bad and ignominious reports which were spread abroade euery where of vs for not stouping to the foresaid subiection as that we were forsooth men who would not liue vnder discipline or could away with obedience being as it were giuen ouer to follow the sway of our owne fancies and vnwilling to haue either other rule or Superior to direct vs then our owne wil or what the loue of liberty should prescribe we say to auoide this fowlest obloquy and to the end the occasion of variance betweene them and vs might be taken away in the roote we desired the ordinarie gouernement by Bishops Which intention and petition of ours if it had bene made knowne to his Holines together with the ground mouing vs therunto and the causes of the dissention as they were not hid from the procurers of the authority we most certainly assured our selues that either his Holines would not haue appointed this kind of gouernment to which the Iesuits are no way subordinate or not haue placed it in such a like fauourite of theirs as themselues only had purposely culled out to serue their turns § Or could we win our thoughts that his Holines knowing how all things stood with vs would neuerthelesse haue erected this kind of superiority and haue appointed Master Blackwell for the Superior yet the whole world cannot make vs to beleeue or once to doubt that his Holines pious prudeÌ„t disposition his high commended vigilancie zeale of iustice would if his blessed Fatherhood had bene truly and fully informed of our case haue euer annexed such a tie and instruction to the authoritie as that our Arch-priest should consult and take aduice in all matters of moment with the Prouinciall of the Iesuites whereas father Garnet who then had and now hath the roome was And let our aduersaries answer this the chiefe of the one side in the difference so that herby he is become borh partie and counsellour plaintiffe and iudge assistant defendant and in Commission for arbitrating his owne case and the causes of his fellow brethren of the same societie vnder his guiding An exorbitant most contrarie to the lawes of all Nations and opposite to the nature of iustice euen by the light of nature But to leaue to stay longer about the truths which we tooke to be The first falsitie expressed concealed as a matter wherein ignorance or forgetfulnesse may plead the informers excuse and to come to the falsities wherein not ignorance or forgetfulnesse can haue place as in the former but mis-affection or fraud or a worse godfather must name the child § The
promoted thereunto of their owne chusing also the forme of the subordination creating themselues in truth and vnderhand the appointers of the Archpriest the designers of the Assistants the makers of our lawes the dispensers the disposers the directors the commaunders and our great masters in all things Their stomackes were too great not to haue the subordination to go forward howsoeuer father Parsons his soule lay at pawne in the Interim as wel for his vsage towards our two brethren as also for abusing therein of the Sea Apostolicke Neither among so many strange wonders could we maruell at any thing more then what the cause or drift might be why father Parsons comming on a time from his Holinesse told one of the prisoners M. Charuock that he had neuer so much ado as to perswade his Holines that he and his fellow Agent were Catholicke Priestes and not heretickes a thing as father Parsons auowed which his Holinesse would not beleeue of a long while O good God to what times are we reserued to liue in either for that so vniust an information should be giuen to the highest Pastour against vertuous Priests or that an auncient religious man should in such sort glose and counterfeit For it cannot be possible if his Holinesse stood so conceited but that very impious vntruths and with greatest colour of truth were inculcated to his Holinesse ere his practised and aged iudgement could entertaine and ground so bad an opinion of English Priestes as they comming so farre off vnto him should be of any other religion then Catholicke Two Priests to come out of England to Rome and purposely to his Holinesse Chaire and in a message and supplication from Priestes whereof a good many were then are now and had bene a long while in durance for the Catholicke cause and in an affaire meerely belonging to the Romane Religion with a prest readines also to follow and obey his Holinesse order in the same as vnder their booke-othes they assured are we trow no tokens of heresie but ablest demonstration of conuincing the contrarie What should then be the cause that his Holines was possessed with so hard an opinion against them and consequently against vs all from whom and in whose names they came Was it the matter they came about Impossible if right information had bene giuen because they came only to vnderstand the truth coÌ„cerning the institutioÌ„ of the new authoritie and to open to his Holinesse wisedom our difficulties about the same and to acquaint him with the spiritual wants of our country with humblest petition for supply Cardinall Caietane who had most cause to stretch the action to the hardest sense against vs in that it might beare some semblaÌ„ce of an opposition against his ordinance Cardinall Burghesio openly acknowledged at the time when our two brethren appeared before them sitting in iudgement vpon their cause that they could not find fault with the intention and matter they came for And if the intention matter were lawfull or not iustly to be blamed as both their Graces affirmed let our aduersaries tell what might the trespasse be why his Holinesse mind was so greatly auerted or rather his holy zeale incensed The messengers were reported the one to be a Maultster and a Horse-courser the other for an incontinent person O tongue libertie whither runnest thou O father Parsons how credulous are you in bad matters Let but this latter be proued notwithstaÌ„ding you said who perchance counteth such a saying no bad pollicie that a Priest sware it and two other Priestes tooke their othes that they heard him sweare it and we do all here yeeld our selues without further conuiction to be traytours to God and his Church and craue the fagot There was a night-cappe with a border of blacke silke two fingers deepe a dozen of silke points fine sockes a sword and a dagger found in their chambers and matter of much good sport made therat father Parsons the chiefest doer hauing now forgotten how himselfe went attired when he liued in England and how some of his brethren here now go more costly then any Priest The messengers were accused that they came to Rome to renue the stirs in the Colledge The apprehension of M. Dudley M. Barrowes M. Râ—wse and M. Watson the remoue of Fa. Weston M. Archer M. Southworth and M. Pound from Wisbich to the Tower the great search made by the Officers for our Archpriest was laid to their charge as a complot agreed on before their going and after executed by vs here their confederates To make the bead-rowle long inough it was obiected that M. Doctour Bagshaw had a pension of fiftie pound a yeere of her Maiestie that we dealt with the Counsell and tooke direction from them The fall of M. Ithell and the Apostacie of Frier Sacheuerill were laid warmely in their dish with a long rable of surmises what would become of some others if they hold on Were not these fine exceptions we appleale to the whole world or accusations rather Who would euer think they could haue bin spoken without a vizard or obiected by any who before had not shaken hands with all shamefastnesse Alas alas whither do vnruly humours driue such as serue them For could there be grosser tales deuised if one would haue fabled for the whetstone or more infamous slaunders coined if there had beene a dispensation graunted to forge at pleasure That these things were laid in the dish of our two brethren against vs their fellows it cannot with any truth be denied or but with the abandoning of a great deale of modestie be stood against For sundry Letters containing the greatest part of the premises and which father Parsons had the perusing of and was the inditor or prompter of all or most of the contents and which also himselfe sent open into England to and for our Archpriest and others to reade are yet extant and both the priests liuing against whom the said counterfeit crimes were obiected and who are ready to witnesse or if need so require to depose so much as before is rehearsed But what would we inferre out of all these Verily not that father Parsons did accuse them and vs to his Holines in al the foresaid crimes for then vndoubtedly his maners had bene so far discrepant from the etymologie of his religious name as blacke is from white or hell from heauen Neuerthelesse we cannot but assure our selues that he or some other and none but himselfe hath the office of informership in the English affaires plaid a monstrous bad part in inciting his Holinesse by vntrue and vngodly suggestion to conceiue so infinite hardly of our two brethren as not to be brought but vpon long perswasion to thinke them to be Catholicke Priests Now although the reasons testimonies and probabilities already alleaged may sufficiently declare what grounds we had to beleeue that his Holinesse did neither commaund the institution of the new authoritie nor was priuie to the particulars
onely instrument and meane of doing good to others and for himselfe to liue by For although in Censures of holy Church regularly he that hath authoritie to bind hath also authoritie to loose and contrary wise he that hath authoritie to loose hath authoritie to bind yet it followed not at least in our vnderstanding the taking away of faculties being no censure that because the Archpriest had authoritie giuen him to take away faculties graunted by whom or whensoeuer therefore he could giue or restore them againe after he had once taken them away in regard his authority being delegatine and after a prescript forme it could not at least as we thought be extended beyond the cases expressed And therefore no expresse signification being made of any such authority in the Constitutiue Letter that he might restore againe all such faculties as he had for any cause taken away we thought the subordination to be much more rigorous or defectiue in this point then that it could be the ordinance or commandemement of his Holinesse A second instance It appeared incredible that his Holinesse bearing so great commendation for mercifulnesse and lenitie as he doth would neuerthelesse enact a new kind of punishment for the Priests of our countrey onely â—ighting in more bloud for maintaining the soueraignty of that Chaire then any other Cleargy at this day in the world We presume to say a new kind of punishment for the Priests of our countrey only because the auncient and vsuall manner of punishing Priests in other countries that shew themselues disobedient vnquiet or stubborne against their Ecclesiasticall superiours is by imposition of censures that is by debarring them the vse of their Priestly functions not by taking their faculties quite from them But in the new subordination authoritie is giuen not onely to suspend or debarre vs from the vse of our faculties but as if that tye and punishment were too slight or brought not misery inough vpon vs we must haue all our faculties taken quite and cleane from vs giuen by whom and whensoeuer A kind of iurisdiction seldome heard of and neuer vsed vpoÌ„ any Pastors such as al the Priests in our country are after a sort reputed to be so named in the 9. Instruction Nor was the iurisdiction euer practised in England while good Cardinal Allen liued but an extremity taken vp only since Fa. Par. began to sit at sterne therby become more bold to vnmaske his violent nature Yea as M. Blackwell now demeaneth the matter and sayth he hath good warrant for it not only al our faculties must be taken wholy away from vs vpon due conuiction of a fault but the like prosecution must be made vpon vs without triall without proofe without summons meerely at the arbitrary disposition of himselfe that is as the euent hath hitherto shewed when so often as he shall imagine or be pleased to pretend a cause A third instance We could not beleeue the action being without an example in Gods Church that his Holinesse determining to make a superiour ouer our whole secular Cleargy would institute no greater a prelate theÌ„ an Archpriest to take the charge especially if his Holinesse then meant so much as in his later Breue is sitheÌ„ce appointed that he should also be a superiour ouer the laity as well honorable as worshipfull And not onely to gouerne all the secular Priests residing within the realme but to gouerne direct and command vs if so we do or shall reside in the kingdome of Scotland A scope which conuinced our vnderstanding that the subordination was not the appointment or decree of his Holinesse but some fine descant or politicke deuice plotted by father Parsons for seruing some turne appertaining to state matters We wish it were not so but it is too plaine for if consideration of matters of this quality were laid aside what reason can be giuen that an Archpriest residing in England should direct and gouerne his Countrey-priests in Scotland where also no English Priests at the time of instituting the authority or since is knowne to reside But father Parsons harbouring some watchfull bugs in his brest and forecasting matters a farre off thought it good wisedome to preuent the contingent which his owne feare or surmizes suggested and to forelay what might fall in time verifying therein the words of our Sauiour The children of this world are Luke 16. wiser then the children of light in their generation A fourth instance On the one side it appeared straunge that his Holinesse hauing set so long in the Chaire as he hath and receiuing aduertisements of the miseries of our Church could be so little weeting to the state of Priestes and lay Catholikes in our countrey as to thinke Priests might be remoued from one residence to another by authority and not great and open daunger to ensue And on the other side if so his Holinesse were ignorant of the lawes of our country or did not vnderstand the miseries and dangers we liue in what sinne could our prolonging be of not subiecting our selues to the new authority till we had informed his Holinesse therein and shewed how inconuenient nay how dangerous or truer how impossible it was for any such iurisdiction to be practised in our countrey vnlesse we did wilfully lay open not onely our selues but our Catholike friends to the hazards of a thousand ieopardies Let that point of the subordination the termes of our realme and the nature of requisite circumstances be considered together and the demonstration is made of as much as is auerred We will here let passe in silence that one of the Assistants the Iesuits chiefe solicitor in forwarding this new authority at Rome was the man who first suggested that clause of remouing Priests from their places of residence to be inserted in the iurisdiction of the Archpriest alleadging such a cause for his good deede as howsoeuer his discretion serued to tell it yet our conscience and feare of preiudice to manie especially if the faculty should happen to be practised as hath bene already threatned will not giue vs leaue to recite it Alexander the third writing to the Archbishop of Râ—uenna and pointing out the respect and duty we should beare to the Sea Apostolike vseth these words Aut mandatum nostrum adimpleas aut quare Ca. Si quando de rescript adimplere non possis rationabilem causam praetendas Either regardfully fulfill our commaundement or alleadge a reasonable cause why you cannot As if the good Pope would haue sayd the commandement of the Sea Apostolicke or of any other superiour ought to be carefully executed vnlesse there be a reasonable cause to the contrary Neither is this a false glosse or an enlarging of the Popes words being the same with the written Glosse Mandatum superioris debet adimpleri vel Glossaibidem reddenda ratio quare non adimpletur The commandement of a superiour ought to be accomplished or a reason rendered why it is not
owne life and there keepeth them without looking on them and thereby commeth to haue leisure and appetite to gaze vppon the life and cariages of some of the secular But to proceed in examining the rest of the testimonies Secondly his Holinesse Nuncio in Flaunders in his Letter to maister Blackwell and which our aduersaries alleage as a testimony against vs made no mention at all of the tenor of the commission nor of any particular that should be contained therein Our aduersaries themselues will not deny this or if they do we must say there is no truth in their words The whole that his Lordships letter can be drawne to make against vs or to testifie for them was in that his honour writing to M. Blackwell wrote vnto him by the name and title of Archpriest which also hapned as we thinke through this occasion After father Parsons had won the Cardinall to solicite and erect a subordination in our Church the like as himselfe thought fittest he sent a copie of the Constitutiue Letter to the Nuncio in Flaunders and to others there to reade Whereupon the Nuncio seeing maister Blackwell to be constituted Archpriest by the Cardinall gaue him also that title And what is this for proofe of the commission specially for proofe of the tenour the thing which is to be witnessed as is declared before or else what is witnessed to be little worth Thirdly touching the testimony of D. Stapleton the most and all that he wrote to the Nuncio concerning the authority of maister Blackwell and which our aduersaries lay hold on for reckord against vs was that his Holinesse had made him Archpriest Which thing also he did neither write by way of affirmance or to testifie so much but onely accidentally by occasion of another matter to weete what he thought fittest to be done about maister Tempest For at that time the Nuncio had sent M. Tempest vnto him with his accusers to be examined in the points for which the Cardinall Protector had taken away his faculties while he was in the way downwards from Rome and giuen likewise order to the Nuncio that he should be stayed in the Low-countries and not suffered to go into England Now when Doctor Worthington and maister Caesar Clement his accusers had charged him before Doctor Stapletō with as many things as they thought good or as their instructions from father Parsons directed and he had made his answer and purgation thereunto Doctor Stapleton aduertising the Nuncio by letter how the matter passed before him withall giuing his honor to vnderstand what he thought meetest to be done in the cause wrote that maister Tempest might wel be dismissed and suffered to depart into England and as he should there demeane himselfe so to receiue againe his faculties of the Archpriest whom his Holinesse had constituted superiour in England By all which being the whole summe of that Doctor Sapleton wrote to the Nuncio what more may be gathered then that Doctor Worthington and maister Caesar Clement relating the contents of the Constitutiue Letter or shewing a copie thereof vnto him which at that very season was newly come to Bruxels and made common to many the other incidently thereupon inserted in his foresayd Letter to the Nuncio the words aboue mentioned Which in no sence can iustly be reckened a testimony the writer by euidence of all circumstances thinking nothing lesse in vsing the words then as a witnesse to testifie the commission or that the subordination was the ordinance of his Holinesse by what he did say But whatsoeuer Doctour Stapletons intention was therein either to witnesse or not to witnesse the subordination as it could not be to witnesse it vnderstanding the same but by report yet our aduersaries themselues wil not say that the good man did particularize or testifie the tenour of the commission or any one iurisdiction contained therein Or had he rehearsed in his letter some moe or few particulars of the commission as he did not yet we desire to know what reason or fatisfaction can be yeelded why he might not as well haue erred in relating the tenour and consequently neither bond nor wisedome in vs to beleeue his words as he did in saying that M. Tempest vpon desert of his good cariage in England might haue his faculties restored vnto him by the Archpriest whē M. Blackwell at that time had no authority at all as himselfe both confessed practised either to restore him or giue faculties vnto any other vpon what necessity soeuer We will not stay here to aske the cause why D. Stapletons letter addressed to the Nuncio vpon the aforesayd businesse was brought ouer with other like into England and here shewed for testimonies But although we will not stand to demand the reason hereof yet we cannot but giue all men to know that our suspition doubts and mistrust of the validity of the new authority were no whit lesned thereby but very much increased seeing what meane proues were mustered and as it were marshalled in the forefront of the army of prooues against vs. Fourthly concerning the testimony of M. D. Barret there was yet much lesse cause why he should be brought for witnesse vnlesse the necessity be such that any thing must serue that can make the least shew of sounding against vs we neuer saw or heard but of two letters that he should write the one to the Popes Nuncio in Flaunders concerning matters belonging to Maister Tempest the other to maister Blackwell himselfe In either of which no other testimony was giuen then that he named maister Blackwell Archpriest and wished that those effects might follow vppon the authority which the author in the institution of the authority intēded without naming who he was And what we pray could this possibly make to the proofe of that which was then in question and which we stood vppon to know after an assured and requisite manner viz. whether the Cardinall receiued a commaundement from his Holinesse to erect such a subordination with like iurisdiction in all points ouer vs. Well it must needes argue a rich wardrope and good proues no doubt to lye in store where such poore stuffe is brought forth for shew Fiftly touching the testimony of father Bellarmine of whose letter our impugners seeme not to make the least account first we say that to this day there be very few of our company who euer saw the letter and for certaine neither of these two whom Maister Blackwell calleth the Princes in the action and hath sorest punished for defending their owne and their brethrens good names against the slaunders imposed euer cast eye thereon or the same euer sent by any or offered vnto them to reade till after the arriuall of his Holinesse Breue and our absolute admittance of the authority And therefore whatsoeuer testimony it caried it could little condemne or blame those that knew no more thereof But what might the contents be of the letter or to whom was the same
and prouoke our selues to vertue through the erecting of a Sodalitie among such onely as should like and desire to be thereof we became thereby obliged in conscience to accept of any subordination which himselfe and his consorts should by wrong and sinister suggestion get to be proposed or ordained against vs If they say yea it resteth that they proue the bond a worke impossible or if they say no then why doth he in the Apologie and the other in Ca. 1. 6. â— their letter to the Nuncio in Flaunders of the second of May dilate as they do and so iniuriously inferre thereof against vs It hath bene enough and enough declared before that we were not bound to admit the subordination vpon credence of the Cardinals Letter and being not bound by any vertue of the said Letter we trow our trauels to make a sodalitie did not bind vs thereunto if so they had not bene broken off as they were before the institution of the subordination and we all conioyned in the sympathie or mutuall embracing of one desire to sue to his Holinesse for obtaining of Bishops in our country We say no more but that if father Parsons or the sixe Assistants had stood so indifferently inclined to fauour our atteÌ„pts in going about to ordaine a Sodalitie as he sheweth himselfe prone and readie not only to excuse but to commend and iustifie the league and orders of the Agency begun and prosecuted in the Castle of Wishich calling the same p Fol. 66. a congregation according to the fashion and example of those priuate congregations of our Ladie allowed by the Sea Apostolicke in diuers Countries no doubt both he and they had lessened their account in the day of their doome when they must answere for the wrongs they do vs. Touching the preiudice which by instituting the Sodalitie should be intended to others we would faine know what preiudice that could be in particular when euery man was lefâ— free to his own choice and no one to be misliked if he would not be a member thereof and others tied by a new obligation to loue reuerence and stead him wherein they could Neither do we take it to be true that the most part of our brethren did reclaime and mislike the institution of the Sodalitie as may be gathered by the small number of those that manifested their dislike being as we haue said before but very few three onely of note M. Doctor Bauen M. Blackwell and M. Tirwit and by the companie of those that expressed their good liking therof which were more theÌ„ 20. times so many as those that impugned the same by the account reckord of such as negociated the affaire and dealt with others for vnderstanding their affection or aueâ—sion therein To that wherewith the obiection chargeth vs that when the institution of the Archpriest came into England and was promulgated by the prudent and godly letters of the Protectour we hauing resolued to be vnquiet began first to stagger and doubt and then to disâ—usse our Superiours commaundement and lastly to contemne it we answer that if the Cardinals Letter had bene the Popes Letter or an Apostolicall Breue or Bull as it was not and the degrees of beleefe due to the one exceedingly surmounting the degrees due to the other yet doubting as we did or truer being right assured as we were in our own vnderstanding that the said Letter was procured by surreption or obreption or both what fault was it in vs to stagger and doubt and discusse our Superiours commandement when no writer ancient nor moderne but holdeth the same for most lawfull q Institut moral p. 1. li. 5. ca. 14. quaeritur 4. Non negamus literas Apostolicas recognosci quidem discuti debere cum sint dubiae sint nâ—â—ne subreptitiae an legitimae It is not to be denied writeth Azore but that Apostolicall Letters may and ought to be considered of discussed when they appeare doubtfull whether they were procured by wrong or right information And the same Author in another place hath these words r Idem ibidem quaeritur 7. Fas est etiam Laico de literis pontificijs cum dubiae sint incertae â—ona side probabiliter ambigere disputareve sint nâ—â—ne Pontificiae sint neâ—ne subreptitiae It is lawfull euen for a lay man hauing no corrupt intention probably to question and dispute whether the Popes letters appearing doubtful and vncertaine were indeede his Leters or gotten by surreption Againe the Canonists note many things which may be opposed against the Popes Bull and Å¿ Rebussus in pâ—axi Tit. Quae apponi possunt contra Bullam Rebuffus putteth downe 29. exceptions whereof some if they be found in the Bull cannot be salued but do vtterly inualidate and frustrate the same some other that may be amended and the Bull after to be of force Now if it were vnlawfull as father Parsons maketh it to be though all the learned besides himselfe do with one voice witnesse the contrarie to scanne and discusse the Popes Bull how should the said defects or matter of exception be opposed And if this libertie be graunted against the Popes Bull or Apostolicall Letters no doubt the same freedome or much greater is allowed against a Cardinals Letter instituting a strange subordination afflictiue and most rigorous But the father would haue vs and we commend his wit therein to practise perfect obedience that is as Diuines teach t D. Tho secunda secundae q. 104. art 5. D. BonaueÌ„ q vlt. Durandus q. 4. Cordubensis in exposit Regulae ca. 10. q. 2. Valetia To. 3 disp 7. q. 3 punct 2. Angles par 2. in secunduÌ„ lib. Sent. dist 44 q. 2 diff 5. Siâ—mistae verb. Religiâ—sus not only promptly and readily to do whatsoeuer we are commaunded without considering the authoritie or end of the Commaunder but to preuent also the commaundement of our Superiour in all things wherein we know before his will or pleasure And yet if we should follow the fathers exhortation in this point and not content our selues with performing the obedience we are bound too and which v D. Tho. vbi supra ad tertiuÌ„ sufficeth vnder tie of sin we do not see how shewing this perfect obedience we ought to haue admitted the subordmation because the Extrauagant Iniunctae and the x Paulus 3. Const quae incipit cum nobis Iulius 2. Constitut quae incipit Romani Pontificis Iulius 3 consiit quae incipit Sanctissimus constitutions of other Popes do forbid to receiue any such superiour Prelate to the office and dignitie he claimeth without sight of the Popes Letter for testimonie of such his graunt and the parties promotion Neither can that in truth be called perfect obedience but rather indiscreet and sinfull which transgresseth the ordinances of holy Church as vndoubtedly we should haue done had we receiued M. Blackwell to the office of the Archpresbytership before the shewing
of the Popes Letters for his preferment thereunto No doubt but the vtter face of the perswasion which the sonnes of Iacob vsed to Sichem was good and holy as being the act of Circumcision Gen. 34. the chiefest Sacrament of the old law yet Sichems obedience thereunto was the cause of his death and of the slaughter of many mo Againe if we looke vpon the outside of Dauids counsell to Vrias in 2. Reg. 11. exhorting him to take his ease after his wearisome iourney there appeareth nought but goodwill and kindnesse and yet Dauid had a subtile fetch therein and more respected his owne good in the counsell then he did the welfare of Vrias Neither did the enemie of mankind let to candie and cloake his perswasion to our vnfortunate mother Eue with an outward shew of godlinesse Eritis sicut Dij scientes bonum Gen. 3. malum Ye shall be as Gods knowing good and euill but what drift he had therein all her posteritie feeles We know how excellent a vertue obedience is especially that kind which father Parsons would haue vs to practise and which spirituall writers call Caecam obedientiam blind obedience for that it closeth the eye of our will and leadeth the iudgement of our vnderstanding as the guide leadeth the blind man agreeable to this saying of S. Gregorie Vera obedientia nec Praepositorum Li. 2 ca. q. in li. 1. Reg. intentionem discutit nec praecepta discernit quia qui omne vitae suae studium maiori subdidit in hoc solo gaudet si quod sibi praecipitur operatur Nescit enim iudicare quisquis perfectè didicerit obedire True obedience neither discusseth the intention of his Prepositors neither scanneth their commaundements because he that hath subiected the whole course of his life to the direction of his superiour ioyeth only in this if he do as he is commannded For he knoweth not to iudge that hath perfectly learned to obey But as we wot the thing that father Parsons counselleth vs too to be right good in it selfe being the perfection of the y D. Tho. 2. 2. q. 104. art 3. worthiest of al other morall vertues so do we feare least he seeke therein the increase of soueraigntie and absolutely without contradiction to rule in our Country as already he hath not blushed to vaunt himselfe of the commaund he holdeth in England we speake from report of an eye and eare witnesse as well ouer many of the Laitie as of the Cleargie which vaine bragge he would easily make good with aduantage could he once bring vs to a blind kind of obedience neither to discusse the commandements of our Archpriest whom he directeth in all things nor the ordinance of any other superiour vpon what false information soeuer the same was enacted Volo vos sapientes esse in bono simplices Rom. 16. in malo I would haue you sayth the Apostle to be wise in good and simple in ill Which God of his mercies make true in father Parsons and in vs all Concerning the other part of the charge that hauing resolued to be vnquiet we would not desist till lastly we fel to contemne our superiours commandement Here we haue good cause to aske father Parsons how he knew being no Prophet nor the sonne of a Prophet that we had resolued to be vnquiet for so much was neither written in our foreheads nor manifested in the nature of our actions doing nothing as we haue often sayd more then what the Canons and constitutions of holy Church and the vniforme consent of all writers allow and direct But notwithstanding the iustnesse of the cause we will not trouble him with this demaund hauing another question of more weight to be assoiled viz. that he tell vs and the world vnlesse we and the world must hold him for more then a vaine speaker wherein and how we contemned the commandement of our Superiors that is as Diuines and the Summists write in a thing z D. Tho. 2. 2. q. 986. art 9. ad 3. Caiet ibid. in summa verb. coteptus valet To. 3. disp 10. q. 4. punct 5. Siluest verb. Contemptus nu 1. Archidiaco in Ca. quicunque dist 81. Dominicus in Ca. Nullus dist 55. Viguerius ca. 5. § 9 ver 1. Nauar in Manuali ca. 23. nu 42. Prouerb 18. we were bound to obey them did not obey theÌ„ for this respect only because we would not be subiect to their coÌ„mandements A slander which he nor our aduersaries shal euer be able to proue not prouing we trust he will make coÌ„science to reuerse the words as he must needs if he loue his soule the sooner if by the gradation and forme of speech he vsed he intended to giue ayme to the Reader of our nigh approching or perfect arriual to that degree of sin which the holy Ghost mentioned by the pen of Salomon Impius cum in profundum venerit peccatorum contemnit When the wicked is sunke to the depth of mischiefe he contemneth the commaundements of Almightie God and of his Deputies vpon earth Finally touching the remnant of the obiection vnanswered to wit that our sinne in refusing to subiect our selues to â—he new subordination before it was witnessed or approued by his Holinesse Breue can no where else be placed but in the highest greece of disobedience seeing it was committed against the supreme Pontâ—fex himselfe and against the dignitie of the whole Romane Court We referre the Reader the assertion being most ignorant and vncolourable to that which hath bene said before * Pag. 29. sequen â—ib in our second Reason and * Pag. 85 86 in our answer to our aduersaries third obiection and to that which God willing we shall hereafter touch in both the Reasons that follow AN eight obiection or shift which our oppositours deuise for maintaining their feeble assertions and for finding a way out of the straites which their afterwits saw would mightily enuiron them if they should stil hold and maintaine * Our Archpriest in his letters in the 8. and 17. of August see pag 67. as they did at first the subordination to be the act and ordinance of our Cardinal Protector because to acknowledge this much did and would euer most hardly rub vpon them either to shew the rescript of his Holinesse delegation to the Cardinall or to proue his Holinesse verball Commission vnto him or driue them to recall vnles they should shew themselues of worse conscience then they seeme to be the temerarious and too too vncharitable censures which they had most wrongfully laid vpon vs and dinulged euery where for not yeelding our obedience no law nor rules of conscience binding vs therunto without proofe first made in that behalfe of the Cardinals authoritie to M. Blackwell vpon view of the Constitutiue Letter to correct this errour father Parsons in the bill of complaint which M. Haddocke and M. Martin Array exhibited to Cardinall Caietane
of the appeale he ought and is bound to deferre thereunto And the reason is because appellation doth alwaies implie an vniustice receiued or intended and in things doubtfull the ſ Salo◠de iustitia q. 63. art 4. contr 2. concl 2. regula 11. de reg iur lib. 6. diuine law naturall and humane declareth that the case of the agrieued or sufferer is to be preferred A Fift essentiall point wherein our Archpriest seemeth likewise to transgresse the lawes of holie Church is that his Reuerence hauing admitted my appeale à grauaminibus futuris from future agrieuances deliuered me my apostles or dimissory letters would * From the 20. of December to the 21. of February following some few weekes after notwithstanding this his formall allowance of the Appeale suspend interdict and redouble the taking away of my faculties and this vpon no new offence which was notorious but See these things set downe in his own letter pag. 190. euen for consenting to the prefixing of the causes before the appeale which himselfe admitted and for making answere to a lay Gentleman his letter the copie whereof is set downe before and lastly for that three of the appellants did denye the giuing of their assents to the said causes which were prefixed All a Ca. super de appel Ca. Romana ca. sià Iudice de appel lib. 6. Panormitan in ca. ad reprimendam de off iudi ordi nu 9. Silu. verb. appellatio nu 1. lawes and writers do assigne these two effects to euery appeale admitted viz. the suspending of the superiours iurisdiction in the cause from whome and in which the appellation was made and the reuoluing of the said cause to the tryall of the higher Iudge to whome the appellation was made Hence it appeareth plaine that Maister Blackwel admitting my appeale and after proceeding against me in the very same kind of agrieuances for which I appealed and this his proceeding against me chiefely for annexing the causes of the Appeale he allowed without any new and notorious offence committed by me as the fore-goings do manifestly conuince hence I say it most euidently appeareth that his Reuerence therein brake the lawes of holy Church vnlesse his authoritie be a transcendant aboue all the written rules either of lawe or conscience A sixt particular wherein our Arch-priest exceedeth the limits of his authoritie as we verily beleeue is his opinion and practise touching the reuocation of faculties What opinion his Reuerence holdeth herein his letters to Maister Charnock of the 17. of Iune 1600. This letter is set downe pag. 199. do manifestly shew wherein amongst other things he writeth thus Facultatum concessio vt etiam duratio merè voluntaria censenda est cum facultates delegatae sine vllo prorsus crimine solo nutu concedentis vel ab co potestatem habentis expirent As the graunt of faculties so the continuation of them is to be counted meere voluntarie sith delegatine faculties expire without any fault vpon the sole will of the graunter or of the party that hath authority from him A strange position and which cannot but prognosticate somewhat See Panormitan in ca. in singulis de stat mona nu 7. Cardinall Caietaine appointed Maister Blackwell Arch-priest and gaue him Delegatine authoritie as is plaine by his graces words cui vices nostras pro tempore delegemus to whome for the time we delegate our stead and yet * § 6. vers 10. Note a contradiction betweene the two opinions father Lyster in his treatise against vs affirmeth that the Pope cannot depose him without a crime committed neither is the authority or office wherewith Maister Blackwell is inuested a like meane of his maintenance as the hauing of faculties is to Priests that liue in our countrey which putteth a materiall difference betweene the cases and inferreth that if Maister Blackwell may not but vpon a crime be remoued by the Pope much lesse may faculties be taken away from Priests in England without any crime foregoing The donation of faculties to Priests in their mission seemeth not so to depend on the meere pleasure of the superiour as our Arch-priest would pretend but rather to be an implicitiue couenant and the performance thereof due vnto them by iustice vnlesse their owne misdemeanor bereaue them of the interest For can their admittance into any of the Colledges the addicting of themselues to the study of Diuinity the taking of an oath to be made Priests and goe into England when the Superiour shall appoint promise lesse then a couenant on the Superiors side to furnish them with faculties at the time of their going vnlesse as is sayd their owne deserts shall make them vnworthie sith the hauing of faculties is the chiefest meane of inabling thē to do good in our country the end why they became Priests and resigned the liberty of their former state And as the giuing of faculties to Priests at their departure for England is not to be counted a meere voluntarie fauour being in truth the due hire of their trauels and alteration of their state so neither can the continuation of our faculties iustly be deemed to depend in such sort vpō the will of the graunter as that at his pleasure they expire and determine without any sufficient cause giuen Vndoubtedly the disgrace and iniuries which accompanie such a fact is an oppression that sendeth vp his cry to heauen for punishment vpon the imposer An extremitie that men who haue left the Vniuersitie forsaken the preferments of learning in their country relinquished their patrimonies lost the loue of their worldly friends brought themselues in dislike with their Prince and the State deuoted their trauels to the gaining of soules and hourely for that cause venture their liues and floting beside in a sea of difficulties must after all these and in the middest of these be spoyled of their faculties yea at the arbitrarie pleasure of another and this sine crimine without any blame or fault But who seeth not how this doctrine of our Archpriest tendeth to bōdage and meere tyrannie For haue Priests in our Countrey either Tithes Parsonage or Vicaredge or any other help of maintenance though they serue the Altar in more danger then any Priest in the Christian world beside then the voluntarie charities of those with whom they deale And with whome can they deale being depriued of their faculties The Councell of a Sess 21. de refor ca. 2. sc 1. Trident enacteth seuerall prouisoes that Priests should not through necessitie of want be driuen to beg holding the same a reproch to the order The like also haue the auncient Canons b Dist 50. ca. studeat decreed appointing that Priests euen guilty of murder when their liues are spared should be allowed a competent portion for their maintenance out of the benefices they had when they committed the fact And touching the censure of suspension all the Canons c Panormit in
enlarged by a In constitutione quae incipit cum à nobis Paulus the third b In const quae incipit Romani Pontificis Iulius the second and c In const quae incip sanctissimus Iulius the third inuolue or concerne the promotion and office of Maister Blackwell as how little true all these things are the former reasons haue sufficiently declared yea we tooke the hard conceite and indignation which our Prince and the State carry against Father Parsons whom they reputed to be the chiefe deuiser of the subordination and to haue the whole ruling thereof as a iust excuse of not admitting the authoritie especially at the first appearance thereof vpon the bare sight of the Cardinals letter directed also to no more then one And the grounds why we tooke this to be a reasonable cause of iustifying our bearing off were these that follow First because the Magistrates haue in their hands and de facto haue shewed to some prisoners at the time of their examinations for proofe and to exaggerate the disloyalties and treasons obiected one or mo letters which they affirme to be father Parsons wherein his concurrance and furtherance to an inuasion were expressed then the mans restlesse tampering in State matters being reported to haue profered and reprofered the Crowne of our Countrie to seuerall Princes now to one now to another as the meeting of matters and oportunities could most recommend and credit his words and entertaine the personage with hope thereof thirdly the incessant solicitation which the Magistrate protesteth that he hath vsed with forraine Potentates and the attempts which as the same Magistrate affirmeth haue thereon ensued for a conquest of our countrie So as the Magistrate vnderstanding as common fame could not but bring it to his hearing that the subordination was the worke of father Parsons our feare was least the politick State would deeme vs coadiutors and creatures combined with him if we had admitted the Subordination vpon no greater compulsion then the Protectors letter and consequently that we were persons who did deserue to be abandoned and to haue the extremitie of the lawes prosecuted against vs. Could we therefore in common reason do lesse matters standing in these termes then deferre our acceptance of the authoritie vntill his Holines had commaunded vs by Bull Breue or other papall instrument or verball message to subiect our selues thereunto that so the State might see our receiuing of the Subordination not to be for any liking we caried towards father Parsons proceedings but for obedience only towards the Sea Apostolick and in a matter wherein the obseruances of our religion bound vs and the same not iustlie preiudiciall to the temporall state Verily we tooke this for so reasonable and iust a cause as we could not but stand thereupon vnlesse we would in our owne vnderstanding haue shewed our selues cruell to our owne innocencie of ill deserts towards the Magistrate in not remouing his wrong suspition of vs when and how we might ingratefull to our benefactors vnmindfull of our owne liues betrayers of the cause we professe enemies to the professors thereof and iniurious to the honor of Priesthood for that all these her Maiestie and the State not reading in our actions that we were true dislikers of all and singular his disloyall practises and platformes were like to receiue increase of affliction blemish by our admittance of the iurisdiction before such time as his Holines had confirmed the same thereby through the vertue of his supreme authoritie freed both it and vs from hauing part in father Parsons intentions so farre as they were any whit disloyall Neither is father Parsons holden onely of our Magistrate for a Statist or marchandizer of the Crowne and Diademe though this were enough to estrange deforce vs from hauing any connexion or partaking in ought with him but his trauels and negotiations this way are become so notoriouslie knowne that euen Pasquine in Rome as intelligence is sent vs speaketh in this manner of him If there be any man that will buy the Kingdome of England Let him repaire to a Marchant in a blacke square Cappe in the Citie and he shall haue a very good penny-worth thereof Touching the proper nature of our delaie vpon the foresaid cause we thinke that the same will not onely appeare iust and reasonable before any Tribunall vpon earth to our full excuse but that it will be found of that qualitie in the day of iudgement when * Psal 5. Sophon 1. Iustice will be iudged and Ierusalem searched with a candle For what humaine cause can be thought iust or reasonable if not the precedent branching into so many seuerall and weightie consequences as the premisses deliuer and reason maketh manifest if circumstances of time place and persons the direction of a wise mans aime be vprightlie considered And if the cause were either in truth or in semblance iust we meane either iust in it selfe or so taken in good faith by vs then our prolonging to subiect our selues supposing the Cardinals letter had bin a binding precept vnto vs was either no sinne at all or not greater then a veniall No sinne if the cause were reallie iust as witnesseth a Ca. si quando de rescript Pope Alexander the third b 12. q. 96. art 6. 22. q. 147. art 3. ad 2. in 4. dist 15. q. 3. art 4. ad 4. quaest ad 3. Saint Thomas c In dist 76. ca. vtinam Archidiaconus d In ca. â—am quae de rescript nu 4. in rubr de obseruat iâ—iu nu 11. Panormitane e Verb. lex nu 8. Siluester f In â—an ca. 23. nu 43. Nauar g P. 1. li. 2. ca. 36. nu 16. Graffius and others Or not greater then a veniall if the cause were but putatiuely iust as writeth h 2 P. tit 6. ca. 2. ante § 1. Saint Antonie i In 22. q. 147 art 3 in summa verb. prâ—ceptum Caiâ—tane k In 4. dist 15 q. 4. Paludamus l Verb. ieiunium nu 21. Siluester m Vbi supra Nauar n T. 3. disp 9. q. 2. punct 5. Gregorius de Valentia and others Neither is this doctrine only true in the commaundements of inferiour prelates but holdeth likewise true in the precepts of Cardinals or of Popes them selues as both the text of the lawe and the best writers do testifie o Ca. si quaÌ„do de rescript Si aliqua tuae fraternitati dirigimus quae animum tuum exasperare videntur turbari non debes c. Qualitatem neâ—otij pro quo tibi scribitur diligenter considerans aut mandâ—tum nostrum reuerenter adimpleas aut per literas tuas quare adimplere non possiâ— rationabilem causam praetendas If we inioyne you any thing sayth Pope Alexander to the Archbishop of Rauenna that may seeme to stirre your mind you ought not to be troubled therewith but
God our Father and our Lord Iesus Christ I see not why you might not very well for reuerence sake haue forborne the application of that passage to Maister Blackwell being literallie and euer principallie referred to our Sauiour and neuer secondarilie applied to any but a Pope nor can be but incongruously as my small reading and iudgement giueth me A bold charge hard measure that for bearing off to subiect our selues to the new authoritie vntill the returne of our two brethren with true certificate of his Holines pleasure therein we must be counted by you non tenere caput ex quo totum corpus per nexus coniunctiones subministratuÌ„ constructum crescit in augmentuÌ„ Dei not holding the head wherof the whole body by ioints and bands being serued and compacted groweth to the increase of God which is by the prime and proper signification of the place to apostatate or forsake Christ and in the second and largest sense to be an hereticke or schismaticke Take heed good sir least for reprouing others you vtter what is not worthie of your self I know you had not The insuings shewed I was deceiued herein so ill a meaning but the inferences be direct and therefore I wish you againe to take better heede to the running of your pen hereafter You say the new authoritie is receiued with singular liking of the most and best and that who is ioyned to Maister Blackwell is yours and qui cum illo non colligit spargit he that doth not gather with him scattereth First you forget comparisons to be odious and continue the citing of places vnprouable against vs. Then you sooth more then can be truly auerred in the eye of the world for by generall opinion there are of as good parts and of as good deserts and of no lesse name that haue not as haue submitted themselues thereunto And for the number a gay coate-card in all your mouthes I thinke if there were authoritie from the sea Apostolicke willing euery Priest to deliuer his conscience which of the two kinds of gouernment he most liked or deemed fittest either this of your and father Parsons deuising where an Archpresbyter the lowest Prelature in holie Church and now And this time the Laitie were not comprised vnder the authoritie worne out of vse must absolutely commaund and prescribe to the Cleargie of a whole kingdome or the other that we now principallie sue for which is the Ecclesiasticall only vsuall regiment throughout all Christendome I say if there were such authoritie graunted for comming to the true knowledge of euery priests opinion herein there would be as I am most assured vpon good grounds ten for one if not tweÌ„tie or rather hundreds of the Cleargy Laity with vs against you Now sir for conclusion if the points of your Letter to me or more if the contents of your Letters to others whereof I haue had some vnderstanding or more then either if the seueritie vsed in Rome and in England against our cause and brethren were vprightlie and iudiciallie weighed doubtles in my opinion there would appeare little ground for the truth of that you say in the beginning of your Letter to wit that if all could not be induced to loue and affect you you would yet beare their auersion with patience and silence without following any course or pursute against them I praye if the Societie I meane the English and your adherents should do their worst what could there be more done then is done against vs Could there be more horrible crimes obiected Could what is obiected be more openly or more against conscience diuulged Could promises be lesse kept Could conditions be worse performed Could dissimulation be finelier masked Could Priests sustaine greater triall of patience then is heaped on them Could the burden of their afflictions take increase Could their friends be more earnestlie laboured to withdraw their good liking and charities from them Could there be mightier shoouing to remoue some of that coate from their places of residence Could all assayes almost euery way to that end be lesse forborne Could detraction be rifer Could calumniators swaâ—ue more Could mo pratlers be found to tenise their obloquies Could harder censures be giuen of them or more liberallie Could their liues be ript vp from a further period Could their faults be liuelier depainted Nay could faults of no faults be plentifullier created Or could all this or more go freer without satisfaction lesse check rebuke or controulement Lamentable that men suffering for being Priests and suffering the like extremities they do should be deuoyded of faculties and haue doubts thrust into their heads and by parties of speciall name to be also vnlawfull for them either to vse the altar or to practise preaching So that if particulars be belieued small is the patience lesse the silence and sharp is the course or pursute that is followed against vs. I write not these things to the end I do or would charge any in particular and much lesse you then any other whome my loue hath a long while reuerenced for vertue and other good habilities but I rehearse them and verily with teares to moue pitie to stir vp compassion and if I might be so happie to procure also the surceasing and redresse of these our common but no common miseries And one thing seemeth more strange then all that acquainting as we did M. Blackwell himselfe with our purpose of sending to Rome for full vnderstanding of his Holines mind and to intimate to his wisedome the true state of our countrie and the tearmes of Priests as his holie Fatherhood by the relation of those that heard the speeches required vs to do yea some hauing made their appeale also from him yet that in this short interim till our iust doubts be cleared neither he nor your societie nor your copartioners can be intreated to breath and let the difference sleepe till our brethren bring or your selues shew his Holines resolution but will needs with tooth and nayle and with all earnestnes pursue the challenged authoritie against vs and stop at nothing that lieth in your way be it the generall disturbance of vs all and the disquieting of the whole realme that I say nothing of the scandall nor of the edging of other persons A better temper would more commend Vndoubtedly if our two friends returne not the sooner nor you perswaded to desist from the busie course begun assure your selues you wil baile our pens and inforce vs for defending of our good names to make knowne to the whole realme the full state processe of all matters in Rome in England Wherein if there fall out ought as it is feared there will fall out much little to the commendation of some of your proceedings you are to impute the blame to your selues that thus mainely vrge the occasion Good counsell to remember before hand that had I wist is too late Neither were it amisse if you did lesse follow