thing as well as another And whereas then we find them evidently Tardy by their saying that there is not one Jesuit except Mariana that holds it lawfull for a private person to kill a King although an Heretick although a Pagan although a Tyrant we may very rationally suspect their sincerity and Truth in all the rest What! is there not one Jesuit but Mariana who maintains King-killing Doctrine Yes I do affirm that I have frequently heard Anderton Campion Southwell c. in their daily Discourses Lectures and Sermons at Rome teach the same And though all that know me will receive more upon the credit of my Word than this comes to yet to put it out of doubt that the Jesuits died Liars I shall convince the World of their Teaching the King-killing Doctrine from their publick Writers Was not Cardinal Tolet a Jesuit and doth he not declare That Subjects are not bound to maintain unviolate their Oath of Allegiance to an Excommunicate Person Was not Cardinal Bellarmine a Jesuit and doth he not affirm That the Pope hath the same right and power over Kings as Jehoiada had over Athalia Was not Gregory Valentia a Jesuit and doth he not teach that the Pope may deprive Heretical Kings of all Dominion and Superiority over their Subjects Was not Creswell a Jesuit and doth he not affirm that if a Prince be not of the Romish Religion he looseth all Right and Title to Govern and his Subjects are discharged from all obligation of Obedience and that he may be proceeded against as the Enemy of Mankind Was not Franciscus Varona Constantinus a Jesuit and doth he not in his Apology for John Chastel who wounded Hen. 4. of France tell us That it is lawfull for a private man to murder Kings and Princes condemned of Heresie Is not this a Point so evident that De Harlay the first President of the Parliament of Paris who both knew the Doctrine of the Jesuits and had seen the wofull Effects of it in the murder of Two Kings of France publickly avow it to be their common Opinion in all their Writings That the Pope hath a right to Excommunicate Kings and that thereupon their Subjects may with Innocency assault and destroy them Have Englishmen learned from the Jesuits the guilt of Forgetfulness so as not to remember that Cardinal Allen wrote a Book to prove that Princes Excommunicate for Heresie not only might but were to be deprived of their Kingdom and Life And was not William Parry provoked thereby to kill Queen Elizabeth which though before he had promised at Rome to do yet he was Hesitating in his mind about it till incouraged by that Book Or is it past into Oblivion with us that Father Gifford instigated one John Savage to kill the same Queen and that upon the Bull of Pius 5. And which is remarkable at the same time that they might be the less suspected and the Queen the more secure they wrote a Book wherein they admonished the Papists in England not to attempt any thing against their Princess but to fight against their Adversaries only with the Weapons of Christians viz. with Tears Spiritual reasonings Prayers Watchings and Fastings To all this I shall only add that going in the company of Capt. Richardson to visit Mr. Thomas Jenison the Jesuit then in Newgate but since deceased the said Mr. Jenison acknowledged in Discourse That the Jesuits both held for lawfull and taught in their Writings that an Excommunicate King might be lawfully either Deposed or Murthered but that he himself would not have accession to the practice of these Principles Thirdly I desire to recommend this further to the Reader viz. That though it be both the Doctrine of the Court of Rome and commonly maintained by the Jesuits in their Writings that it is lawfull to kill an Heretical Prince yet it is not usual to press it upon their Youth and inculcate it to their Scholers but upon the prospect of some great occasion They have it always ready in the Books of their Scholasticks and Casuists to teach their Votaries what may lawfully be done but it is not their custom to urge it in their Common discourse nor to recommend it to their Disciples in private or publick Conferences but with respect to something of that Nature to be speedily transacted Thus when they had a purpose to murder Hen. 4. of France Father Generet a Jesuit instructed John Chastell in this King-killing and Heretical Doctrine And Father Fayre did the same by Francis Veron to dispose him for the same Design Yea when they were ready to perpetrate that barbarous Villany upon that Generous Prince the very Sermons of the Jesuits were all fram'd to instigate men to so Bloody an attempt so that Ravilliack when examined about the Causes why he stabb'd the King answered that they might understand them by the Sermons of the Preachers I do further declare that during my residence at Rome I heard the Jesuits section XVII frequently affirm that the King of England was an Heretick and so in Form condemned And when I was leave to the College and return to England which was about June 1676. the said Fathers did both severally and together Teach and Instruct me that I was not to pay Obedience to an Heretical or Excommunicated Prince Now whereas there are divers other Protestant Kings and Princes in Europe beside the King of Great Brittain that which both then gave me amazement and hath also cost me some thoughts since is why only the King of England should be upon all occasions represented as an Heretiek and that no other Protestant Prince should be so much as once mentioned under that Character Nor am I able to resolve it into any thing but this that it was likely to be more for the advantage of the Church of Rome to have the King of England murthered than any other Prince besides For whatsoever ill-will they may bear to them all yet they are not so foolish as to undertake a thing that carries a hazard of scandal and danger in it if the success in the Attempt may not recompence the difficulties in the Atchievement Now there being no Prince of the Reformed Religion at this day in the World whose Death would turn so much to the profit of Rome as that of the King of England it is the less to be marvelled that they should be contented to allow others to live and are only sollicitous to get him removed And the gain which they promise themselves from the Death of his Majesty ariseth from a Consideration of these three things First That the Duke of York the pesumptive Heir to the Crown is a Papist And ought it then to be a matter of any surprize that to further and hasten his Succession they should conspire the destruction of His Majesty who is the only obstacle in the Duke's way to the Throne Are we so unacquainted with the History of our own Nation
this Informant asked him what he thought of him Who answered I doubt there is some Guilt in him because he had enquired of him when he came from Windsor how the King diverted and how he went attended Whereunto he answered in Hawking and Fishing attended only with three or four Persons Mr. Ireland replied he wondred He would go so slenderly Guarded He were easily taken off and then he paused But sometime after Mr. Robert Jenison repeated that he feared there was something in that Plot for that Mr. Ireland said to him at another time that there was but One in the way and were He remomoved the Catholique Religion must flourish again in England Whereupon this Informant said those were damnable suspitious things which Mr. Ireland had spoken about the King And thereupon old Mr. Jenison rose up and swore Mr. Ireland was a Rogue and so left the Room and determined the discourse at that time But some time after in this same Month this Informant walking on the Leads with Mr. Robert Jenison discoursing of the Jesuits being in the Plot the said Robert Jenison told this Informant that Mr. Ireland had at another time told him that Sr. George Wakeman was a Fit person to Poyson the King being the Queens Physician and a Papist upon which this Informant said he hoped the King would not take Physick of any Papist in regard they might be Jesuitically inclined and the Jesuits were against Monarchy in Temporal Princes though appointed by God himself Upon which the said Mr. Robert Jenison asked are the Jesuits against Monarchy Whereto this Informant replied you may easily judge that by their taking off many Kings and Princes and by their holding it lawfull for the Pope to deprive Kings of their Kingdoms and to dispose of them at his pleasure so that though a King be Anointed of the Lord and one that should not be touched by violent Hands yet not only His Kingdom but His Sacred Life lie at the Popes pleasure Mr. Jenison answered does the Pope allow of this This Informant answered yes they have often practised it in this and other Kingdoms and thereby brought more Schism and Division into the Church than ever was before such Damnable things were practised by the Pope and his Emissaries Whereto Mr. Jenison replied you Seculars are generally against the Jesuits and in many things against the Pope Whereunto this Informant replied if you please to consider the Frauds and Devilish Artifices the Jesuits use in their practice and teaching their Politick Interest and industrious Self-seeking all under the Hypocritical zeal and Characters of Religious though none so Irreligious you would not admire why all Secular Priests are against them and the Pope for upholding them and their Practices and Principles Mr. Jenison replied thereunto he beleeved they were Crafty men upon which this Informant asked him how he came now to say they were Crafty men having formerly spoke so much of their Sanctity He replied because he considered several odd and suspicious Expressions Mr. Ireland had spoken to him Whereupon this Informant replied you will not only give the King and Country satisfaction in Declaring the odd and suspicious Expressions of Ireland who is now imprisoned for the Plot but also discharge the duty of a Christian and Obligation of a Subject urging many other reasons to perswade Mr. Jenison to make a full Discovery to the Council Whereunto Mr. Jenison replied he doubted the Jesuits would prove as Black as their Habits adding that his Brother Mr. Thomas Jenison the Jesuit told him there was a Design in hand in which if he plaid his part he might with ease and safety raise his Fortune and that he answered his Brother he would use all lawfull means and that he thereupon replied the means were not only Lawfull but Meritorious otherwise their Body and the Chief Catholicks of England would not be therein concerned as now they were Whereupon this Informant asked him what he understood by his Brothers discourse and whether he did not understand that the Jesuits and Papists had some design against the King and Religion Who answered he might well understand and suspect they had some such Design in hand And thereupon this Informant again pressed him to make a full Discovery to the Council when he came to London if his Evidence were judged material And this Informant told him that he held himself bound in Conscience to discover all that he heard from him if he omitted to do it himself urging that his Evidence would at least wise be fortifying to others Testimony And this Informant very well remembers that coming about a Week afterwards with Mr. Robert Jenison from Mr. Fenwick's House at Baywell Mr. Bowes met them and drew Mr. Jenison aside all discoursed together some time after which Mr. Jenison singled out this Informant and told him that he believed his own Brother Mr. Thomas Jenison would be Hanged and several other Persons of Quality who were concerned in this Horrible Design Thereupon this Informant asked why Who answered a Handfull of Jesuits could not carry on such a Design without the assistance of Persons of Note and Power and the Pope himself must be in because of his Purse and he believed the Plot was Universal because his said Brother had told him the Greatest Catholiques in England were concerned in that Design wherein he would have had him to have plaid his Part. Declaring he had reason to believe it was to destroy the King and Government Whereunto this Informant replied can you swear it Who answered I will not swear it now and thereunto this Informant replied will and can are two things Mr. Jenison further added he was once in Company of Five or Six Jesuits and that all their discourse was then tending to the Destruction of the King and Government all agreeing to the self-same end but himself but that he had not contradicted them in regard he was young and inferiour in Scholarship And this Informant asked him what he meant by Persons of Note and Power ingaged in the Plot He answered the Chiefest Catholiques in England but refused to name them saying in passion do you think I am privy to it But added by God they will have a Bout with the Duke whereby this Informant did believe there was a Hellish Plot and that the greatest Catholiques in England were in it and that Mr. Robert Jenison knew more of it than he did at that time lay open And this Informant speaking something of the Popish Emissaries ingaged in the Plot meaning the Jesuits and Monks Mr. Jenison asked him whether he was not a Popish Emissary Wherunto this Informant replied No he did abhor the Name and that he was a Preacher after the Ancient Apostolical Way which teacheth all to fear God and honour the King and to be obedient to all Superiour Laws and Magistrates To which Mr. Jenison replied the Jesuits hold it lawfull to Depose and Murder any Heretick Kings and to dispose of
ill of them And this they have not only declared in their Books but maintained in the Theses which they have proposed to be disputed in their Schools I know that which surprizeth many who know not the Rules and measures the Papists act by is the men not only pretending to some Religion themselves but intrusted with the conduct of the Consciences of others should publish and divulge such and such things if they were not true when alas the Principle they act by is not whether the thing they affirm be true but whether it be for their advantage honour and secular interest to have it believed I do maintain saith Dicastellus That Calumny when it is used against a Calumniator i. e. one that doth them or their Order a mischief though grounded on absolute falsities is not for that any mortal sin either against Justice or Charity That is is only any mortal sin to Calumniate falsly to preserve ones honour is no doubt saith Caramuel a probable opinion It is a probable Opinion that we may lawfully slander that person by charging him with crimes that are false against whose Testimony we are not able otherwise to defend our selves saith Sambourin Nor is it any ways strange that they should hold it lawfull to Calumniate any one that accuseth them seeing they declare it lawfull to kill such a one We may without mortal sin saith Lessius kill an accuser though the crime whereof he accuseth us be true so it were secret It is lawfull even for an Ecclesiastick or Monk saith Amicus to kill that person who threatens to produce great crimes against him or his Order Now having established Maxims by which they make it lawfull not only to Calumniate without endangering their Salvation but destroy those that injure them is it any thing strange that they should practise what they esteem lawfull especially when their doing it is so necessary not only to the preservation of the credit and safety of their Order but of their Church and all their Party in England Can any man imagin but that having made it lawfull to Calumniate they should at this time if ever act accordingly there being no way left to vindicate themselves or discredit their Accusers save the making their recourse to lies slanders and revilings I desire in reference to all they say to bring the business to this issue with them either their Casuists teach such Maxims or they do not As to their teaching them let them deny it if they dare I both assign the Men that do so and the places where And besides those I have mentioned shall be ready if called thereunto to produce many more concurring in the same Doctrine And seeing they do teach these Maxims let them if they can give but any Rational person satisfaction that any credit is due to such who may lawfully act as every Papist may upon these Principles Let them not then offer to abuse the World any more by Discourses demonstrative of the Unlawfulness of lying and Calumniating by arguments from natural light and Divine Revelation seeing neither Scripture nor the light of Reason are the measures which they Govern themselves by And all Treatises of that nature are but fresh instances of their lying and deceiving while they are declaring it unlawfull to do so And let me add this that the late Pamphlets most adapted to impose upon the World a belief of the credibility and sincerity of the Jesuits such as the Letter to the Two Houses the Jesuits Plea and the New Plot to transform Jesuits into Martyrs c. Do overlook all those Maxims of their Casuists which have been advanced against them by the Authors both of the Impartial Consideration of the Speeches of the five Jesuits and of the Letter intituled Lying allowable with Papists to deceive Protestants and do only insist upon other Principles which by their Maxims they are not obliged to govern themselves by And whereas they are pleased to ask us whether we take those who have been either Condemned or only Arraigned to have been Atheists that they should do that which not only the Principles of the Gospel but the common Sentiments of Mankind not only forbid under the greatest penalty but teach us to detest I answer that I take them to have been worse namely Jesuits or their Disciples who under the names of Christians to the reproach of Religion as well as the debauching of Mankind and ruine of all Societies and Government have established that as lawfull which the Gospel threatens with eternal Wrath and with all states punish either with the Gibbet or the Pillory A second Reason why it is not only every ones duty but at this time section XIII indispensally necessary to contribute to the further detection of the Popish Plot is the awakening the Kingdom to provide in all legal and due ways for the Protection of His Majesties Person and its own defence and Security The Lethargy that the generality of the Nation laboureth under is that which amaseth its Friends and incourageth its Enemies They are greatly deceived that think the Papists have laid their design alas they do more industriously than over pursue it The Case is so stated that there is no retreat and rather than miss their hopes they are resolved to stake lives fortunes and all upon a venture They have laboured too long to bring things to the pass they are in to loose in a moment the fruits of all their toyls and indeavours Though the Protestants should be willing to forgive them yet they know that they have proceeded too far to rely upon Mercy and therefore their guilt lightning their fears makes them desperate The death of Traytors who have suffered instead of dismaying the Party hath greatly enflamed them to revenge They know too well that many more both deserve and may meet with the like measure and rather than tamely suffer it they will all run on in the same fortune They are at present negotiating with all Foreign States for Assistance and he must needs be a stranger to conversation that hath not heard of the liberal Contributions providing for them in all Popish Countries The boldness they every where express is not the effect of their Innocency but of their Villany and confidence of Success through the Aids which they look for Nor hath their slandering the King to his People and their misrepresenting many of his Protestant Subjects to him any other tendency but to prevent mutual confidence between them which if they can but hinder its impossible as things stand that they should miscarry in their design or that either His Majesty or his Protestant Subjects should escape To tell us by one hand that the King laughs at the Plot as a matter wholly fabulous and by another that the Two late Parliaments were a Company of Factious Men What design can this have but to beget a distrust betwixt His Majesty and his People and deprive us of that